as well. >> bret: thank you, sir. have a good night. gogood evening. i'm bret baier eaking tonight, president biden says a possible deal for the release of some hostages held by hamas is very close. israeli officials are said to be discussing the agreement. it calls for a swap of around 50 hostages for 150 palestinians. israel says no terrorists will be released. correspondent jeff paul is in southern israel tonight with the latest. good evening, jeff. >> good evening, bret. despite this deal being close, we are still seeing a lot of fighting here along the israel-gaza border. however, if there is some sort of agreement between israel and hamas recommendation we might not only see a pause in the war but a lot of hostages going home. surrounded by the ruins of war. [explosion] >> israeli forces fire from window positions. [explosion] >> while tanks blast third way deeper into the gaza strip. as soldiers encircle jabalia one of the last strongholds in northern gaza, there are developments on the diplomatic front. >> i hope we will have good news soon. >> with the help of the u.s., escblint and qatar. israel and hamas appear to be nearing a potential deal. >> we are now at the closest point we ever have been in reaching an agreement. >> israel would get as many as 50 hostages, women, and children. in exchange hamas would receive a group of palestinian prisoners and a multi-day pause in combat. hamas chief said on tuesday they were close to reaching a quote, truist. israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu reiterated the war iso fold. >> we are at war and we will continue this war until we atreef all our goals to eliminate hamas. to say bring back all of our hostages and missing people and to ensure that in gaza there will be no factor that threatens israel. >> families of hostages have grown increasingly frustrated in the weeks since more than 200 were kidnapped on october 7th. many have pressured the israeli government to act but realizing bringing all hostages home could take time? i think the only thing i could bring everyone back home. >> now, the meeting involving the israeli government has already gone on for several hours and could go late into the night at some point they are expected to vote on whether or not to approve a potential hostage deal. bret? >> bret: jeff, thank you. the u.s. deploying deadly force in response to continued attacks on american forces in the middle east. u.s. defense official telling fox an a c-130 gun ship carried out an airstrike on a vehicle in the proximity of al- al-asad air base in iraq. several terrorists were killed there this was very immediate response to the attack the vehicle carried out on al-asad d air base. this is the first time the u.s. has carried out an airstrike since the attacks ramped up in october. there have been 66 of those attacks so far. >> this is the first such american strike in iraq. with president biden celebrating 81st birthday this week there were and are renewed questions how old is too old to be an effective leader of the united states of america. lucas tomlinson is traveling with the president tonight in nantucket where the president will be awaiting word about the possible hostage agreement and lucas has the latest. good evening. >> good evening, bret. president biden's expected to arrive here in nantucket later this evening whereby he will be spending thanksgiving. earlier israel's prime minister thanked biden for his help and he said improving this deal to free more hostages. >> working on this intensively for weeks as you all know. >> president biden speaking ahead of an anticipated agreement between the israeli government and hamas to free dozens of hostages. >> you can bring some of these hostages home very soon. i don't want to get in details of things because nothing is done until it's done. >> the republican vice chairman of the house armed services committee says this is only the first step. >> let's make sure all the hostages are released. let's make sure that hamas is never capable of perpetrating these horrific acts of terrorism as we saw on october 7th. >> not everyone is on board with the proposed deal. >> this is like a boxing match. and israel has the advantage and has hamas on the ropes. if we ring the bell and have a pause between, this is going to go longer. what we want is a boxing match that ends in five rounds, not in 10. we also don't apt rematch. >> at the white house this week president biden's 81st birthday was a low key affair for the oldest president in u.s. history the of the birthday surprise might have been biden trailing donald trump in a new nbc poll. biden did get his cake with so many candles it was impossible to count them. the white house releasing this photo saying thanks for the birthday well-wishes today, everyone. turns out on your 146th birthday you run out of space for candles. >> earlier, the white house says that russia's wagner mercenary groups plans to send air defense system hezbollah in lebanon or send to to iran. bret? >> bret: lucas tomlinson in nantucket ahead of the president. lucas, thanks. ♪ ♪ >> bret: tonight we have a very special story. correspondent benjamin hall returns to ukraine 20 months after he was seriously injured there while covering the war with russia. also on the trip, executive chairman and ceo of fox corps lachlan murdock. binningy hall spoke exclusively with ukrainian president volodymyr zelenskyy about the progress and the conflict and his country's relationship with the u.s. last time i got on this train i was badly injured. we made it out the other side. today is the day that we are going back. >> it's been a long journey and we have come a long way. but, inside ukraine, that victory seems to be getting further away. with the war being called a stalemate and an acknowledgment that it will last for years. inside kyiv, we paid tribute to all those who have died. amongst my colleagues pierre and sasha. and we spoke to president zelenskyy. both about the successes and the hardships. >> the eyes of the world have moved elsewhere. they are looking at israel. how has that affected you? >> yes. you are right. it's -- it doesn't have good influence on ukraine. it doesn't help us. but i understand that this is also a challenge for the world. the situation and we are trying to help our side how we can i know that that is really what's big wish of russia to do it -- done -- and help of iranian there, iranian partners. >> a growing number of americans think the money being spent in ukraine is too much. that should be spent in america. what would your message to be to them to tell them this war does matter. >> it also matters to americans who have been with us during this war. for their support. but, of course, if you are speaking about the congress and about the unity help of ukraine, of course this difficulties. many times we are ready for co-production. we are ready it can be win-win. we need licenses and we can produce air defense. we will defend ukraine and also when you defend, the great success, the great results, we don't your product. the product of the united states [inaudible] so the price will be very high. that is business and that is important. the second when you produce for ukraine and with ukraine, you produce it also with americans. so the part the big part production in your state, different state. yes, also in ukraine. jobs for americans and for ukrainians. it's very important. i hope that congress will help us and i hope that with the help of the united states we'll be around ukraine and people and i hope that the united states will be with us against russian terrorism. so fighting for common values, very important. but we are losing our people. not losing europeans, americans, i'm not wish you to have such, you know, of course such war on your territory i don't will wish you to lose your soldiers. >> splits on republican side about support for ukraine. president trump has said he could get a peace deal very quickly. >> let's speak with him and let him give this possibility to show what steps -- what steps of his be his formula. >> would you like it sit down and talk with him. >> yes, i'm ready. of course. if he has very peace plan, he can share it with me. yes. we can stop this war if we will give russia donbas and crimea. to our mind, our [inaudible] derail for such peace plan. that is not a peace plan. >> i wonder if you see this as the focal point of a battle between good and easel, china, russia, iran, north korea on one side, the west on the other? and do you think that ukraine is right at the beginning of what could become a wider conflict? i think ukraine at the center of this global risk. of this world war. i really think that russia will push and until -- until the united states and china together will tell them very, very seriously to go out of the territory. this year we didn't have such success on the land. but we have some success in the black sea. i think it was also very smart idea in the black sea and we have success. and that's why, if russia will go out, it means that politically, politically in the world will lose the will have this loss politically russia doesn't afraid of the power of the war power. >> ben: do you feel without having advances on the counter field. the counteroffensive not going as planned this is not a good message. >> this is not a good message. this is true. we are staying strong is difficult for us yes. we need more successful results on the battlefield. but we need it for us, first of all. i just want to share with you that when we speak about the results on the battlefield, when we are speaking about the, knead ukrainians need it. and then, again, i'm sorry that i'm repeating such message but this is not movie. we -- you know, it's major, yes. each day. i think we have success in crimea. we have success in black sea. we destroy mostly the part of russian, the black sea. we did it. we moved them. they don't have such total influence on the black sea region. >> ben: two of my team were killed when i was injured. pierre the cameraman and sasha. i know their overseas think about afternoon awful lot wanted to know if you had a message to them. >> i wanted to say condolences of parents and family of those brave men and guys. men and women who lost their lives because they really wanted to help ukraine to be alive. we can't give you back your life, sons and daughters, but we will never forget it. >> ben: bret, you know, an opportunity both to remember pierre and sasha. an opportunity to speak to president zelenskyy zelenskyy in a way very few people are able. to say remind people journalism will never be stopped despite the dangers. those were the things we were really trying to show out there. >> bret: benjamin, fantastic job. it has to be remarkable to head back into that country after all you did recovering there and how you came out as you mentioned at the top at that train. you know, president zelenskyy has been a war-time president now for more than 18 months now. did you talk to him about how he, his family is coping with all of this? >> ben: we did. yes. and, in fact, the one time that he became somewhat emotional is when he talked about his family. he said that he was fighting this battle for his family as much as he was for ukraine. and he talked about how his children cried in front of him sometimes. take a listen. support your children and sometimes they miss you very much. and sometimes between us they are crying a little bit. you can't -- when they cry, you can't cry. of course, when you want to support your children or, or your wife sometimes your parents, you have to -- everything is okay. sometimes find jokes about it. jokes help,. [laughter] really. >> ben: i think that is the comedian in zelenskyy coming out again. so he still has that in him. i know that after the war he is hoping to get back to something more like that. >> bret: yeah. benjamin a lot of the people assisted in that hour special but getting out was really powerful. just wondering what you thought as you hit the ground there you obviously were traveling with fox ceo lock alan murdock. they were very proud of how you handled all of it. your thoughts and feelings when you got on the ground? >> well, i think it was a reminder to everyone that together we can do almost anything. we went there together as a company. i was brought out together with the company with the doctors and nurses and everyone together. that was on my mind a lot. i was luck request to meet the doctors and nurses that treated me back then. one of the things that surprised me the most i was a little bit intimidated when i was heading that way. i got off the train from kyiv and i felt far more strong than i had before it. reminded me that you can go through absolutely anything. can you be pushed down and bad things can happen. but, together, and remember this on thanksgiving, together, you can pick yourself up, you can go and do anything you want again. there should be no limits to what you can do. and i think, hopefully, that's the message that we're trying to convey. >> bret: as a perfect message for thanksgiving and we give thanks for you, ben benji, great job. >> thanks, bret. >> bret: later, are black voters, as a voting block in play for the 2024 presidential election? 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>> bret: howie, thanks. the u.s. army is sending a letter to former service members dismissed for refusing the covid-19 vaccine informing them they can now request corrections of their discharge records. the letter comes as the service struggles with rekr50u789 three years after the onset of the coronavirus pandemic. up next, he has been called the iowa caucus king maker. and he is here live to tell us who is getting his endorsement this cycle. but, first, here's what some of our fox affiliates around the country are covering tonight. fox 21 in colorado springs with the hunt for the expected shooter involved in the fatal attack against three people. police are looking for 45-year-old hand me clark. two men and one woman killed. were killed and another woman in critical condition but is expected to survive. >> portland, maine as the city council rejects a proposal to allow homeless encampments on public property that plan would have effectively paused encampment sweeps through april and allowed the sites to stay on all public property barring certain locations such as city hall and those near playgrounds and schools. and this is a live look at new york. one of the big stories there tonight, the 2024 nominees for the songwriter's hall of fame, they include public enemy, steely dan, brian adams, george clinton, tracy chapman, rem, heart, the doobie brothers, and blonde. that's tonight's live look outside the beltway from "special report." we'll be right back. ♪ call me ♪ call me ♪ call me any, any time ♪ call me ♪ bass pro shops and cabela's stands tall in our unwavering commitment to honoring our heroes. we extend our gratitude... beyond words... by proudly offering a legendary salute discount to those who protect our freedoms. our dedication to those who selflessly serve us runs deep within our dna. it's not just a discount... it's a commitment to making a difference. because every day is a chance for us to say thank you. bass pro shops and cabela's... your adventure starts here. harry and david is small batch, gourmet, and delicious. so of course, they run out fast. whether you want to say thank you, i love you, or just happy holidays. send something special, beautiful, and delicious. order your harry and david favorites now before they're gone. there once was a tree lovingly made to look real. 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>> bret: aishah, thank you. tonight a special report exclusive. one of the country's top evangelical leaders announces his endorsement, his organization's endorsement for president. joining us is bob vander plaats, president and ceo of the family leader organization. in iowa. bob, thanks for being here. >> thanks for having me, bret. i really appreciate you having me on. >> bret: let's just cut to the chase. what's the announcement? >> i am thrilled to throw my personal endorsement and support behind governor ron desantis of florida. >> bret: and some people are saying that's not a surprise. but, why are you doing that? what's the reason for that? >> well, the reason it's not a surprise is that we need to find somebody who can win in 2024. what we saw in 2022, the supposedly red wave really only happened in florida and in iowa. governor desantis took a reliable toss-up state in florida and made it complete red. won by 20 points. won in demographics we haven't won. in he has also done that by being a bold and courageous leader. right away it was his endorsement to lose. as you know, bret, in iowa they go to church with us. they are in our homes. they come to our offices, the leadership summit. at last friday's thanksgiving family forum he closed the sale with me. he was very clear about we need a president who can serve two terms. not one term. we don't need a president who is going to be a lame duck on day one. you need a president who is going to surround themselves with the best and brightest people versus having a hard time attracting them again. and somebody who is actually going to do what they say they are going to do. i just think he has the spine to do it. i think he has the experience to win for us. >> bret: so, if you look at history, your last three endorsements back in 2008, mike huckabee. 2012, rick santorum, 2016, ted cruz. they all went on to win the iowa caucuses. but none of them went on to win the nomination, nor, obviously, the white house. how do you square that circle for people who look at this process? >> i think the country needs to look at iowa a little bit more. but, i think in this time iowa is ground zero. if you up end the former president here, i think we are going to offer america a choice between president trump and, say, a governor ron desantis. if president trump wins iowa here, i think it's going to be awfully hard to make the case that you can beat president trump and he's going to be your eventual nominee. i think america would be well-served to have a choice. and i really believe ron desantis is that guy. i think iowa is tailor made for him to win. this. >> bret: you know, not surprisingly, a statement came out from the trump campaign anticipating your announcement of supporting governor desantis. and this is it. i'm just going to quote it. bob vander plaats endorses a candidate who will never be president over 150 faith leaders in iowa organizing their consciouses for president trump. not a single one demanded $100,000 like bob vander plaats did from ron desanctus. when you are an actual leader of the movement like president trump is people are willing to support you for free. all right. your reaction to that? >> well, first of all, president trump knows better than anybody that my endorsement as never been and never will be for sale. so it has nothing to do with any type of money that is being paid or anything like that. i know that's what they want to claim. but that is not the case. what we are trying to do is rebelieve 2024 is the most important election of our lifetime. we believe we need to choose and chewed well. you have want to go to experienced leader who has accomplished results versus somebody that i truly believe he may be able to win the nomination in president trump but i don't think america is going to elect him president again. and i think what we need do the next generation leader. >> bret: yeah. do you think, bob, sorry to interrupt. that we were looking at this video of evangelical leaders kind of praying with the president in the oval office. do you think that there has been a split among the evangelical community, looking at president trump? and how they view him in the wake of the end of his presidency? what do you think has changed? >> well, there is no doubt evangelical community, first of all, they have great admiration for the former. he did a lot of great things. that said, i think they also know that's probably now time to turn the page. they're a little bit exhausted by the constant indictments, the constant complaint about the past. we need to embrace somebody who has got a vision for the future. and that's why even after the thanksgiving family forum on friday, we had several come up and say that they are looking at caucusing for the former president. now they are going to go with ron desantis. i think desantis is making the case. i think governor reynolds' endorsement of ron desantis is a key play in the state of iowa. and, if iowa launches a ron desantis, it then gist new hampshire a flu look. south carolina a real and you have a real primary that's going to take place. >> bret: just to clarify something you said about the money thing. this is, i think, from a reuters article in which it said that desantis' campaign super pac linked to him a nonprofit group supporting him together paid $95,000 in recent months to the family leader foundation, according to campaign finance reports and the document prepared by an iowa state lawmaker who was helping vander plaats' organization raise money for the july 14th presidential candidate forum. is that not true or that's true? >> well, it's definitely true. i would encourage everybody to read the reuters article. everything we do is above board and in sunlight. we have a leadership summit that's a major thing. irs rules prevent us from giving donations to a campaign or giving access to a campaign. and so not only ron desantis but tim scott, vivek ramaswamy, and others, i mean, if they wanted to be at a dinner, they wanted to be promoted in a program, they had to pay for that. trump is hanging his hat on that. that's not the case at all. we are trying to find the best person who can win the nomination and then win the general election and lead for america. >> bret: okay. last thing. we look at the polls and there is a massive lead for the former president in iowa currently. obviously things can shift as you get towards january 15th. but, mike pence is out. so is tim scott who is in this poll. do you think that that coalesces around governor desantis? do you see that movement? >> i really do. and we have always said that there needs to be a coalescing, so it can become a one-on-one. i believe this is a two-person race right now. i think t the way things are setting up in iowa. i think the former president can be beat here. now, there is no doubt. i think his high water mark is going to be 35 to, say, 40%. that means 60% to 65% are open to choosing somebody else. and that's going to be up to governor desantis and for those of us like kim reynolds and myself and others who have endorsed the governor to rally around him and see if we can get him over the finish line in the state of iowa so america has a real choice. >> bret: bob vander plats we appreciate your time coming on and announcing on "special report." we will see you in iowa. >> thank you, bret. god bless. >> bret: up next, the panel on potential hostage keel between israel and hamas. benjamin hall's interview with volodymyr zelenskyy zelenskyy "y x-tras." - [female narrator] five billion people lack access to safe surgery. thousands of children are suffering and dying from treatable causes. for 40 years, mercy ships has deployed floating hospitals to provide the free surgeries these children need. join us. together, we can give children the hope and healing they never thought possible. it's a mission powered by love, made possible by you. give today. setting spanning over 280,000 acres. three forks ranch is the destination for luxury and adventure. enjoy private skiing with 23 runs for every level. kick back for intimate performances from the best in country music. enhance your wellness and longevity through our mayo clinic programs, or plan your meeting for a memorable corporate retreat. discover the west kept secret. go to three forks ranch dot com to book your luxury experience. my a1c was up here; now, it's down with rybelsus®. his a1c? 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they have agreed because they were facing the blows of the idf. we go ahead see the release of hostages held today by the terrorists. >> bret: which would be great, great news. let's bring in our panel juan williams, mollie hemingway editor and chief at "the federalist." byron york chief correspondent for "the washington examiner." byron, your thoughts on this how it's come together and how the administration is handling it. >> first of all, it's a good thing having 50 israeli hostages released is a lot better than having none released. on the other hand, every time israel lets up, in its attack every 24-hour period where it stops the attack is time for hamas to regroup and recover a little bit and extends the period of time that it takes israel to do what it feels it needs to do in gaza. so it does extend things. it shows the power of taking hostages to capture the entire world's imagination and to force this sort of thing. but, net-net, you have got to say if you can save these people's lives, it's a good thing. >> bret: yeah. the israeli prime minister, benjamin meeting with his cabinet tonight, juan. deciding whether to go forward with this. it seems like they are getting to that point. and we'll see if it all comes together. >> yeah. i think what we have heard from u.s. officials is positive. what we have actually heard from, you know, the immoral fuss, uncertain leadership leadership of hamas they feel they have deal. it's up to the israelis. byron makes the point, i think, that confronts israel at this moment, which is, you know, people are going to say why don't you bring home all the hostages first of all. they are also going to say are you going to allow hamas, which has proven to be a difficult opponent with all of its tunnels and opposition and traps, are you going to allow hamas to continue to fight in the future, down the road? are we just having a time-out that allows hamas to regroup? so, these are questions for the israelis at this moment. and they have to decide whether or not they want this to happen. i think you've got to understand, also, the public relations fight, a lot of pictures of these children out of the hospitals in gaza and the like, they haven't been helpful to the israelis. and so they want to, you know, get this thing over. they want it done. >> bret: um-huh. let's turn to the other conflict. ukraine. we obviously had our correspondent benjamin hall return back to ukraine, interview president zelenskyy. emotional, obviously, for benjamin after being seriously wounded there by russian mortar. mollie, if you look at polls, the gallup poll suggests that americans' support for ukraine has dropped. when you look at the question american help for ukraine, is it too much? up to 41% now not enough. 25. right amount # 3. it is shifting. and the question is whether anything ukrainian officials can say on the ground is going to change that. >> well, and those numbers are even more dramatic when you are looking at republican voters. so that's the american average. but, even more republican voters are frustrated with the way that we're handling the ukrainian conflict with sending a lot of money without clear strategy for success or having benchmarks for what would be successful. i thought that was a really touching and interesting interview with -- from benjamin hall with volodymyr zelenskyy. and you could almost feel that there was a change in zelenskyy's tone in his realization that this has not gone as he had predicted it would go. you know, there was a lot of promise about the spring offensive and if that carried into summer that was not born out by the facts. so it does seem that he is coming to terms with much more pressure from across the political spectrum in the u.s. about pushing for a negotiated end to the conflict there that has caused so much horrific damage to ukrainians, to the people and to the infrastructure there. >> bret: other big story, byron, bob vander plaats' endorsing ron desantis. governor of florida. not really a surprise in that it was predicted that this is where his endorsement may go. what did you think of that interview and the -- whether that carries the weight that it always has? >> well, you know, the feeling in iowa in the last few weeks has been that nothing seems to matter a lot. in the sense that the governor, kim reynolds endorsed desantis and it didn't really change much of all. the question will be here. and you pointed out that vander plaats' last endorsements were real successes in iowa with ted cruz and mike huckabee and rick santorum. but those are not people who went on to win the nomination. and, vander plaats did not make a really solid case why donald trump should not be the nominee because he said he can't be elected. well, the electability argument has taken a big hit in recent days and weeks from a number of polls that show donald trump leading joe biden not only nationally but in the number of really, really key states. so, the question is whether this vander plaats' endorsement, which is a big deal in iowa, is really going to make a lot of difference overall. >> bret: it has been a big deal. byron, to your point, our latest fox poll on the matchup, the former president against joe biden 50-46. governor desantis 50 eye 45. nikki haley 52-41 about the biggest difference there as far as the head-to-head and that matches, juan, other polls. your thoughts on that interview? >> i thought what was interesting there whether or not he gave any consideration to nikki haley who has been showing great momentum in this race. apparently not. he said that desantis sealed a deal at that dinner. and what i'm wondering is now if desantis is to succeed. if he has a pathway to victory, bret, he has to really beat her, halely, soundly in iowa. with both endorse. s from the governor and now from vander plaats, unless he has a run away second place finish to trump. and i'm assuming that trump still will come in first, i don't know what he can do. he just needs to beat haley big now. >> bret: mollie, i mean, we can predict one thing. governor desantis will be parking himself at pizza ranches in iowa for the next few weeks and months. >> yeah. maybe struggling with the numbers, but he has done a really good job of moving his campaign to iowa and really focusing on a ground game there. to juan's point even if he has a really great second place showing the new hampshire has him in fifth place. he needs a lot more. this is a start but it's not as tight of a primary and not as crowded of a primary as we have seen where those previous vander plaats' endorsements really made a difference but it could happen here. >> bret: we shall see. we will cover it all. panel, thanks. happy thanksgiving. up next, tuesday extras. keep it here. ♪ ♪ [music “this little light of mine”] in the world's poorest places, children with cleft conditions live in darkness and shame. they're shunned, outcast, living in pain. you can reach out and change the life of a suffering child right now. a surgery that take as little as forty five minutes and your act of love can change a child's life forever. please call, scan or go online to give a new smile. thousands of children are waiting. 18 years from tonight, grant gill will become a legend. when he totally kills it at his improv class's graduation performance. knees will be slapped. suds will be sprayed. people won't know what hurts more: their cheeks, or their sides. that's why he's already keeping himself in-shape and razor sharp today with health tips and wellness tools from aarp. to help make sure his health lives as long as he does. because the younger you are, the more you need aarp. 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(vo) it's your vision, it's your verizon. >> bret: dunkin' wants to know what the frequently asked questions you get from people who recognize you out in public. one is greg gutfeld that crazy and two how do you handle the handoff from the "the five." up next brad says there is a debate on this sub to know wheru stand. what time does your family eat your thanksgiving feast and why? we eat at 5:00 p.m. because we do a turkey trot in the morning and then we try to speak sneak in a little golf before dinnertime. that is it for us tonight. thank you for inviting us into your home tonight. that's it for this "special report," fair, balanced and unafraid. i am going to be off tomorrow and into the holiday. i want to wish you a very happy thanksgiving from my family to yours. mike emanuel is in the seat tomorrow. we have news covered all day and all weekend it's going to be a busy news couple weeks until the new year. ingraham angle is coming up. happy thanksgiving, everybody. ♪ i'm laura ingraham. i