over. >> it's only the start, but so far it's gone well. >> does this breakthrough deal signal a turning point in the conflict? >> i don't trust hamas to do anything right now. i only trust hamas to respond to pressure. >> my guest this morning, national security adviser jake sullivan, and the chairman of the house intelligence committee republican congressman mike turner of ohio. plus, countdown to iowa. the iowa caucuses are now just 50 days away. we are now in second place in iowa. >> everybody's attacking me. that should show you who they care about. >> can any of trump's rivals catch up and stop him? and actor and advocate. selma blair, who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis five years ago, is using her voice to fight for those with the right of all those living with disabilities. >> i want equity. i want justice. >> joining me for analysis are leigh ann caldwell of "the washington post." republican strategist brandon buck and symone sanders-townsend. former chief spokeswoman for vice president kamala harris. welcome to sunday. it's "meet the press." >> from nbc news in washington, the longest-running show in television history, this is "meet the press" with kristen welker. good sunday morning. it took weeks of excruciating secret negotiations involving u.s., israeli, qatari and egyptian officials and personal pressure from president biden to persuade a reluctant israeli prime minister netanyahu to accept a four-day ceasefire to that has so far freed 26 israeli hostages from hamas. this morning two senior administration officials tell nbc news the biden administration is disappointed americans have not yet been released, and they are hopeful three americans will still be among the 50 civilian women and children freed as a part of this deal. >> we also remember all those who are still being held, and renew our commitment to work for their release, as well. two american women and one 4-year-old child, abigail, who remains among those missing. we also will not stop until we get these hostages brought home. >> after a short but serious delay on saturday, 13 more israelis, five women and eight children, were freed. in return, israel released 39 more palestinians from its prisons, and aid organizations have been able to scale up fuel and aid deliveries for gaza. pressure on israel continues to mount. tens of thousands gathered in tel aviv saturday night accusing netanyahu of not doing enough to bring the 240 hostages home. the deal also comes as democrats are increasingly divided over president biden's embrace of israel as the civilian death toll in gaza grows. a biden administration official says this deal was a biden deal, not a netanyahu deal. >> i don't know how to feel like now because it's a weird situation, but i'm happy and excited. >> we saw the jeep passing by, and we recognized adina, my aunt in the jeep, and then we started shouting. >> i don't know that there will be words. i think there will be a lot of tears. a lot of happy tears, i hope. >> we want this chapter to be completed so we can lick our wounds and start to recuperate as a family. >> joining me now is national security adviser jake sullivan. welcome back to "meet the press." >> thanks for having me, kristen. >> well, thank you for being here, jake. we have seen these emotional and wonderful scenes of families being reunited as the hostages have been returned. i know the administration has said that it is hopeful that americans will be returned soon. can you tell us, do you expect american hostages to be released today? >> well, kristen, the initial hostage deal involves the release of women and children, and there are two americans, two women and one young child, and we have reason to believe that one of those americans will be released today, but until we see her out safely from gaza, in the hands of the authorities and ultimately in the hands of her family, then we won't be certain, but we have reason to believe there will be one released today. >> are you talking about the little girl, 4-year-old abigail idan, who, of course, celebrated her birthday in captivity? jake, is that th expect will be released today? >> we are hopeful that abigail will be released. we think it's long past time that this little girl who just, as you said, celebrated her fourth birthday is back home with her family. she tragically lost her parents in this vicious, brutal attack on october 7th and back with other family members. i'm not in a position here at this moment to confirm that, but i will tell you, kristen, that this is unfolding as we speak, and hopefully, literally any hour now, we will know which of the americans is out. we have a sense of who it is, but i just am not in a position to confirm it because we want to make sure that the release goes off as indicated, as we expect and at that point we'll be prepared to speak to it, quite joyfully speak to it. >> i understand this is an incredibly fluid and sensitive situation, but so that our viewers understand, have you actually seen the list, jake, and is there at least one american name on it or are there more? >> well, i started by saying we have reason to believe, and i wouldn't be sitting here saying that if i wasn't confident. i'm not going to get into exactly what we've seen, but i will tell you that we are in extremely close touch, down to every possible detail with both the israelis and qataris as well as with the egyptians. so we feel very fully apprised of what is likely to unfold today, but we proceed with caution because we're dealing with a terrorist group here so we can't be absolutely certain about what is going to happen until it happens, and so we will await the actual transfer of the hostages today at which point we can all speak with greater definition to exactly what happened. >> and so there are two other american hostages who you have said you would anticipate would be released as a part of this latest deal and then seven other americans still being held, u jake. what can you tell us about the other two who you have signaled will be part of this deal, and then the other seven who are still being held in captivity, held hostage? >> kristen, this is a great question. what we know is that there are three americans who fall in the category of the first deal. that is two women and a child, as i said before. we know that those three have been missing, presumed hostages, but we have not gotten proof of life on any of them, and we do not know for certain that all three of them are still alive. that being said, we do believe, we are hopeful that there will be additional americans released. and remember that there is another day to this deal, so we will see another list tomorrow. and then we are working with all sides on the possibility that this deal gets extended to additional hostages beyond the initial 50. that ultimately is up to hamas. if hamas is prepared to release additional hostages, israel has indicated as part of this agreement that it is prepared for additional days and pause to a fighting, and so the ball really is in hamas' court in terms of its willingness to step forward and release additional hostages including releasing additional americans. >> and i do want to talk about potential next steps, but obviously the red cross was a part of this deal, being able to let them in to see the hostages. have they been able to do that, jake, and what have they been able to glean about the remaining hostages? do you know whether the additional seven americans are alive and the rest of the hostages, more than 100 now? >> we don't have that information yet. as part of the agreement, as you just alluded to, by the end of the fourth day, that is, by the end of tomorrow, we expect to have that information, but as i sit here this morning, i cannot confirm anything about the condition of the additional americans being held there as other countries and as israel cannot confirm the condition of their citizen hostages, but it is part of the agreement that that be done by the red cross, and we expect that to be fulfilled. >> do you know the exact number of hostages that remain, jake? what other groups in addition to hamas are holding them? >> we've been very straight from the start, kristen. as have israel and other countries that we do not know the exact number of hostages that are alive at this time being held in gaza, and we won't know that until those hostages are physically in the hands of authorities and ultimately in the hands of their loved ones and their families, and so we have been direct, straight, and candid about what we know and what we don't know. we also are aware that it's not just hamas holding hostages. palestine, islamic jihad, another terrorist group that participated in the brutal massacre on october 7th, is holding some, and other groups who are not directly affiliated, but have loose connections to hamas and palestinian islamic jihad are also holding hostages. so part of the effort here is to ensure that all of those groups somehow get connected to a deal in which every last possible hostage in gaza who is still a live gets turned back over and reunited with their families. >> jake, do you have any concern that the u.s. publicly negotiating a hostage release sends a message that americans are willing to negotiate with terrorists, even if indirectly, and that that could ultimately put the lives of other americans at risk on the world stage? >> look, we've been in the business since the beginning of the biden administration and president biden has taken a leadership role in this in taking steps to bring home americans who are unjustly detained or being held hostage overseas, and we've been willing to make hard decisions to do that because as the president said, he has no higher proo i yort than to bring americans home. when the united states had one policy or another people were taking americans hostage. so from our perspective, this isn't about precedent, it isn't about policy. it's about a simple principle. if there is an american citizen being held overseas, we are going to do everything in our power, using diplomacy, using influence, using leverage to bring those people safely to their families and that is the commitment of president biden. >> israel has said that it would extend the pause in fighting for every day that ten additional hostages are released. is it your expectation at this time, jake, based on your conversations, that this pause in fighting will be extended beyond four days? >> i think it is certainly a possibility and we would like on see that happen -- >> is it likely? >> it's up to hamas. >> is it likely though? >> it is hard for me to handicap that, kristen, because this is hamas. hamas will make the decision about whether they're prepared to release another ten hostages. israel has put its cards on the table, and they're prepared to extend the ball in fighting. will hamas step up and release an additional ten hostages? if they won't, then they're the ones choosing to bridge an end to the pause in fighting and not israel, and that is something that we'll watch very carefully. and president biden has been on the phone just in the last 24 hours with the emir of qatar. he will speak today with the prime minister of israel and he continues to work on this hour by hour to see if we can secure those additional days of pause and those additional hostages coming home to their families. >> let me ask you about a reese end op-ed about bernie sanders. the indiscriminate bombing has led to an untenable amount of civilian deaths. he is becoming a growing part of progressive lawmakers that is asking that aid to israel be conditioned on a plan to mitigate civilian deaths. president biden called this ideay a, quote, worthwhile thought. so would this administration support that? >> in that answer president biden acknowledged the idea, but he went on to say that his approach, president biden's approach which was high-level, public diplomacy has generated results. it has generated the substantial amount of humanitarian assistance to civilians in gaza. the exit of thousands of foreign nationals including american citizens from gaza and the first pause in the fighting since the conflict began and the release of a set of hostages, 50 hostages, all of that has been the product of presidential engagement, private engagement, hard diplomacy. that's the course that brb has set us on and that's the course that the delivery is set on. >> just to be very clear, should we take his words that it would be a worthwhile thought to mean that the president is open to signing legislation that would provide aid to israel that comes with conditions? >> i thought the president couldn't have been clearer when he answered the question. he acknowledged the idea, and then he said, by the way, that i have conducted our diplomacy -- >> is that a yes, jake? >> -- that that's what he's done so far, and that's what he's going to do. >> is he open to it? >> again, he is going to do what continues to generate results and as he said in his press conference and for the last two days we've seen hostages released. the approach that he is taking direct, presidential diplomacy behind closed doors with the israelis and with our partners that's what's generating the results right now and that's the course that he's on. >> all right. national security adviser, jake sullivan, thank you so much for your time this morning. we really appreciate it. when we come back, the chair of the house intelligence committee republican congressman mike turner of ohio joins me next. congressman mike turner of ohio joins me next goli, taste your goals. you want to be able to provide your child with the tools or resources they need. with reliable internet at home, through the internet essentials program, the world opened up. fellas, fellas. that's how my son was able to find the hidden genius project. we wanted to give y'all the necessary skills to compete with the future. kevin's now part of this next generation of young people who feel they can thrive. ♪ ♪ welcome back. just this morning egypt h welcome back. just this morning egypt has received a list of 13 israelis and 39 palestinians scheduled for release today. the third group in the four-day truce deal. as the national security adviser just told me, the white house has reason to believe that group could include at least one israeli american dual citizen. here at home, aid to israel is still uncertain. house republicans passed a $14.3 billion aid deal earlier this month, and new speaker mike johnson has vowed to back separate legislation combining ukraine assistance with tougher border security measures. joining me now is the republican chairman of the house intelligence committee congressman mike turner of ohio. welcome back to "meet the press," congressman. >> thank you for having me. >> thank you for being back in person on a big day. we really appreciate it. so let's start with what we know about this release of hostages in addition to the three the white house has said they anticipate will be released. there are still seven other americans who are unaccounted for. is it your expectation that those seven americans based on the intelligence that you have are still being held hostage? do you know if they're alive? >> right. you know, it's been very curious that the administration is so quick to claim this is a biden deal, and as you just heard from jake sullivan, he continues to say we know every detail, and he can't answer those questions as to those details. there are ten americans out of the 240 hostages and people who are missing. no one really knows the number as jake sullivan was saying that he doesn't even know the number nor do we know proof of life. you would have thought if they're claiming credit that this is a biden deal, that we would have conditioned this process because the aid going into northern gaza is a condition that hamas required includes american aid, and everyone is very concerned, and one thing that's very important here is to understand that the word hostage barely describes what these people have been through. these are not detainees and they were not in gaza and they were in their homes in israel. they witnessed the brutal murdering of their families, neighbors and friends and then were taken, kidnapped from their homes into gaza, a bld they've been held in brutal conditions, and as we know, some of the hostages have been killed. so i'm certain these hostages, these individuals that have been kidnapped and are being released, whenlet through a very brutal time. >> i want to ask you more about the intelligence that you have, but to your point about whether this is a biden deal. you heard mr. sullivan tell me that the details are very sensitive. does the president deserve some credit given that he has been working the phones with the leaders of qatar and israel to try to get this temporary pause in the fighting? >> right. i think people would expect nothing less, and certainly it appears that the administration has stepped up for that. >> do you give him some credit? >> absolutely. this is a period fraught with peril to claim credit for a deal that we don't know what will come out of this. i just think it's very dangerous. >> speaking of the perils here, do you have any concerns that hamas is delaying the release of american citizens to use them effectively as bargaining chips, congressman? >> exactly. which is why i'm concerned that the biden administration didn't make it a condition of this deal that americans be in the first hostages released especially since american aid is going into gaza right now, into northern gaza as part of the conditions that hamas had. i think when the administration says they know every detail and they don't even know that they're alive, that is certainly very concerning, and also the aspect is what you raised in the interview. the red cross is supposed to have access to the remaining hostages, and we're is up poised to be getting information as to what the condition is and who is held. the hostage list is based on people who are missing. >> jake says he expects that that will happen potentially by tomorrow. why is that so critical, and do you anticipate it will happen by tomorrow? are you getting any information that points to that? >> i think this is a war zone, and so its very unknowns are rampant. and the other aspect here is that we're not even sure that hamas has all of the hostages, and there are radical groups that might have possession of some of these hostages, and which ones are alive and where their bodies may be in either gaza or where hamas has held them and how will the red cross be able to tell the us who is alive and who is not, and that is part of certain will i the terrible distress that these families go through and people who have been told that their relatives are deceased and now finding them alive and they might find out the tragic news. >> i want to ask you, big picture about how israel is conducting this war. as you know, the idf has taken the head of al shifa hospital in for questioning. israel, the united states have said that their intelligence points to the fact that hamas is effectively embedding itself inside al shifa and inside other hospitals. do you think the united states should release its intelligence publicly or at least more information publicly to help make the case to people globally who are saying too many civilian lives have been lost here? >> right. i think we have to remember that right now this is a war zone, and israel has openly stated that its goal is to take out hamas and hamas' control of gaza. hamas still has control of gaza. when this cease-fire ends, netanyahu has said the conflict will continue, and the conflict will continue, as us real has stated, until hamas is removed. and obviously one of the issues that you have to look at in releasing intelligence is that since this is a war zone and you're trying to enter the dialogue about what happened you still have impacts that can impact the outcome, you have to be cautious. >> one a.p. report described what happened in gaza as an uninhabitable moonscape. should there be more transparency about the intelligence that israel has and about the intelligence that the united states has about hamas? >> i think it is beneficial to tell the story of what hamas is. >> would you support more transparency? should more intelligence be released? >> certainly on the issue of hamas because the palestinians are as much prisoners to hamas in gaza. once hamas won its election, however rigged it may have been to take over gaza, there's never been another. they are absolutely being suppressed by hamas itself. >> let me ask you about the growing global pressure israel to commit to a full ceasefire because of concerns about the high civilian death toll. this comes as i was just talking about, amid growing calls for u.s. aid to israel to be conditioned on a plan to limit civilian deaths. is that something you would support? >> i think the white house has been clear, and i think u.s. policy has been clear of lessening the palestinian casualties that are not hamas, and i think certainly israel has made it clear in the areas in which there's going to be conflict and trying to get people to leave those areas to lessen those casualties. >> but would you vote for that if it came to you, if it was introduced as legislation, conditional aid to israel? >> i wouldn't propose it, but i think it accurately reflects u.s. policy. >> let me ask you about iran. do you, big picture -- we know that iran obviously funds hamas. do you see this as a proxy war between the united states and iran? >> oh, absolutely. and they see it -- they state it is. they state that it is their proxy war against the west. >> should the u.s. take action against iran if it continues to escalate? >> i think we currently are taking military action against their -- >> direct military action? >> -- proxies. i do think that the administration should step up and protect our own troops in iraq. these are iranian franchisees, funded, trained organizations to attack the west. >> president biden has asked for a robust aid package that would include aid to ukraine, israel, taiwan and funding for the southern border. is this something that you anticipate could pass by the end of the year? >> i think it would be very difficult to get it done by the end of the year, and the impediment is the white house policy on the southern border. the white house in this package including it as a national security package recognizing that the southern border is a threat and put in funding, but it will need policy changes. congress is going to to require that there be law changes that will make certain that the border remain in mexico and other types of provisions that would secure the southern border. >> let me ask you quickly about the newly elected speaker of the house, mike johnson. he just made the decision to release, and he started the process, 40,000 hours of footage from january 6th. the capitol police have expressed real concerns that that could jeopardize the security of the capital. do you think it was responsible to release all of the footage from january 6th? >> i think it's important for americans to know the truth. this has been fraught with an unbelievable amount of misinformation and untruths, and i think this, when you see the footage yourself it will give you an understanding of what is there and what occurred that day because we are currently depending upon partisan descriptions and now the american people can see. >> speaking of which, some of your republican colleagues have cherry picked some of the images to further some conspiracy theories. are you comfortable with that? >> i think it's been cherry picked by both sides. >> but let me ask you about your republican colleagues in the wake of this footage being released. are you comfortable with, for example, marjorie taylor greene posting suggestions that this was an inside job by the capitol police? she removed the tweet. >> you'll have to talk to marjorie taylor green about that. it's important that the speaker has taken this step because now people can see the truth. >> congressman, great to have you here in person. >> when we come back the first nominating contest for 2024 is just 50 days away. can any of trump's rivals catch him? the panel is next. this is stella. sfx: [ding] she has big ideas for this year's tree. real big. so they went to michaels and found inspiration in the one holiday shop as expansive as stella's imagination. because sometimes the best way to find a little holiday magic is to make it yourself. together they turned that little holiday magic into a seven foot tall... [roar] untraditional tradition. turn ideas into i-did-its. sfx: [ding] ♪ goli, taste your goals. sfx: [ding] ♪♪ welcome back. the panel is here. leigh ann cal welcome back. the panel is here. leigh ann caldwell, co-author of "the washington post's" 202 and anchor of "washington post" live. brandon buck, former adviser to paul ryan and john boehner. and symone townsend former spokesperson for kamala harris. thanks to all of you for being here. i appreciate it. leigh ann, i want to start with you. this is a huge test for president biden, and obviously now the pressure is on to release the americans. how is this playing for him politically, do you think? >> obviously, it will be great if americans are released with these hostages and president biden doesn't give a lot of credit not only on this, for a lot of host of things and that does include democrats on capitol hill, but meanwhile you have a divide, especially among the democratic party and among americans about the president's stances on israel, and now you're seeing a lot of pressure from members of congress not only for a cease-fire. also for conditioning aid, as you also talked about, and also putting more public pressure on netanyahu in the realms of this war. it is still a difficult situation for president biden politically. >> symone, let's talk about the pressure that leigh ann is describing. your former boss, senator bernie sanders. you worked for him -- >> i worked for a lot of them. >> i know you have. he wrote an op-ed that i referenced, but let me read a part of it. he said, if nicely askeds, we wouldn't be in this position. the only way these necessary changes will happen is if the united states has the substantial leverage we have with israel. the blank-check approach must end. he's saying that any aid to israel as leigh ann was saying needs to be conditional. you heard jake sullivan said that the president wouldn't rule out supporting such a deal. >> he didn't rule it out. having worked for president biden is very important, and you have to understand where the contours are, but what jake did say is he believes the president has been vindicated in his strategy, which is what the president himself said when asked about the conditioning aid to israel and said it is a very worthwhile conversation, but i think if he had done that, i don't think we would have gotten as far as we have gotten today. i think the white house is very well aware about aid to israel is not just relegated to the most progressive part of the apparatus. on capitol hill there are moderate democrats also engaged in these conversations and senator sanders held a meeting among the senate democratic caucus to talk about israel and hamas and brought in a number of different folks including dennis ross who was a former peace negotiator for the region. i think the question is are these conversations going to turn to more legislative actions with more moderate members and which is why jake sullivan left room this morning. >> yeah, it's a really great point. and, brandon, what's also so notable is reference to a blank check is what we heard from republicans. some republicans have said, we don't want to write a blank check to ukraine. there's division among the parties. and you just heard congressman turner say he's not confident that they can get this big robust package done by the end of the year. what do you think? >> in the immediate attack on israel, it felt like it was going to be a matter of days and weeks before aid was passed through congress, and here we are, and we are no closer, and i think that the ukraine aid is the holdup. there are clearly divisions on israel and what that looks like is an open question. the president needed to use the leverage he had to israel to get funding for ukraine. now that's become so complicated and we hear a lot about the blank check and what the difference is between the two. we already spent $113 billion in ukraine, and there's a lot of wariness to continue sending foreign aid, and foreign aid is never popular, and ukraine has gone on for so long, and the longer something sits out, the harder it is to pass. >> now they're tying it to border policy, as well, an issue that democrats and republicans have not been able to agree on for decades and so this entire package is really in jeopardy. it is truly one of the most fraught issues, border policy. leigh ann, let's talk about 2024 a little bit and domestic politics, if we could. president biden obviously being tested on the handling of this foreign policy crisis and also the economy, a top issue. he's been getting low marks. we have seen as we head into the holidays, the rate of inflation is dropping, the rate of gas prices are dropping, and i'm hearing, based on my conversations, a lot of democrats are saying his messaging needs to shift away from bidenomics to really understanding americans who say we're not feeling this yet. >> yeah. bidenomics has really been -- become a negative word especially among democrats because it's not working. i was texting with democratic members of congress last night just trying to get a read over the holiday weekend and what they're hearing at home and what people are saying and these members said that it is not looking good for president biden out there, that he would probably lose some swing states if the elections were held today. so they have a lot of work to do toen, once again, like i said, try to get credit for the successes that he's had over the past two years, which he keeps on getting blamed for everything bad that's happened. >> at this point, leigh ann -- i think the biden campaign understands and i spoke to folks earlier this week and i asked look, you're spending a lot of money on ads and they're at a record number investing in african-american and latino ads and they've gone up earlier and deeper than any other presidential campaign before, however, the door knocking and the organizing and the people organizing in communities has not ramped up yet, and i asked when is that going to happen because folks are not giving the president credit for things they can feel, and i think equipton noted to me, look, i understand that, and we are hoping to get people on the ground as soon as possible in the early new year. it is something that i also think the campaign is looking at. >> we've seen the president's poll numbers drop among the key group, including voters of color. brendan, let's talk about republicans. the iowa caucus is 50 days away starting today, by the way, mark your calendars. can nikki haley catch up to trump? he was in south carolina last night. he was in her state. he's beating her in her state, but she says she can take it. she's very confident, she says. but can she? >> she's clearly run the best campaign against donald trump. she's asserted himself in the debate and she's serious in understanding the issues, but the problem is she's still very far behind, and you have a divided other half of the party, and as long as someone else is ron desantis, it is very hard for her to get there. donald trump is below 50% in iowa, generally in the polls and you typically think of them as vulnerable and i consider donald trump the incumbent here. the problem is no one has been able to figure out an attack that sticks and we've had millions of dollars, she can figure it out, but she has a long way to go. >> she sure does. symone,ings you've been on campaigns that are underdog campaigns. do you think nikki haley can come back? she's had three strong performances, and her poll numbers are shooting up, but she's still double digits behind trump. >> yeah. look, i think the fact that there are so many other candidates in the race and the case has not winnowed is not playing to her advantage. do his voters go to nikki haley and the data suggests that they do not. those voters go to donald trump and it is advantageous for nikki haley to continue to stay in this race. i think what's so interesting about her campaign to me, she's been very clear on a number of things, ukraine, foreign aid, and the deficit, but she's a little not as clear when it comes to abortion, and i think you're going to have to get a more concrete answer as it goes on. >> we need to create a dynamic that it's not just someone running for second place and they have desantis running for second, and i think that will change the perception of the race and still a long shot for her to win and that is a necessary thing and all of these big-dollar donors rushing to nikki haley need to get desantis to drop. u. >> that could be a game-changer if he did. leigh ann, let me ask you this. the big x factor, there will be a third party senator. senator manchin has not ruled it out, but he knows it is uphill. >> he knows it is uphill and he's not ruling it out and he's going to do a listening tour in the next few months and he is running out of time, but if joe manchin does get in and rfk junior and cornell west it could be interesting. >> great conversation. thank you. when we come back as we mark 60 years after the assassination of john f. kennedy, a look back at the youngest president ever elected to office. president ever elected to office. what is cirkul? cirkul is the fuel you need to take flight. cirkul is the energy that gets you to the next level. cirkul is what you hope for when life tosses lemons your way. cirkul. it's your water, your way. welcome back. 60 years ago this week president welcome back. 60 years ago this week president john f. kennedy was assassinated in dallas. it was a defining moment for a generation. president biden commemorated the anniversary on wednesday saying in a statement, quote, in life and in death, president kennedy changed the way wu sea ourselves, a country full of youthful hopes and ambition. when he was a candidate for president in 1960, kennedy joined this broadcast. he was only 43 years old. >> senator, i ask this respectfully, how are you qualified to be president. >> i served in the congress for 14 years and they're very difficult and changing years. i think that i'm a figure of the post-war, and entirely new problems are coming on the scene that present entirely new challenges to political leaders. having come into politics during this period, having, i think, some strong convictions as to what the united states must do to maintain its position as the leader of the free world and its own survival, i think i can meet the responsibilities of the president. >> when we come back, selma blair who was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis is using her voice to help all those living with disabilities. th disabiliti. you want to be able to provide your child with the tools or resources they need. with reliable internet at home, through the internet essentials program, the world opened up. fellas, fellas. that's how my son was able to find the hidden genius project. we wanted to give y'all the necessary skills to compete with the future. kevin's now part of this next generation of young people who feel they can thrive. ♪ ♪ for more than 75 years "meet the press" has had a history of shining a light on people who imp act welcome back. for more than 75 years "meet the press" has had a history of shining a light on people who impact our politics from outside washington, from jackie robinson to robert frost, jane fonda, and john glenn. actor selma blair is known for her deadpan humor with quirky intelligent performances in iconic films like "cruel intentions," "heather," and "legally blond." what are the boys like? >> cecile, is that all you can think of? >> it doesn't look like anyone's coming to your little party to me, heather. >> vivian kensington, do you think it's acceptable that miss woods is not prepared? >> no, i don't. >> five years ago at age 46 blair was diagnosed with multiple sclerosis. after battling the autoimmune disease from the age of 7, in 2019 she walked onto the red carpet with a cane for the firstet time in an oscars afterparty making her disability visible in a powerful way and now blair has become an advocate for americans living with disabilities, joining president biden at the white house in october to recognize the 33rd anniversary of the americans with disabilities act and to advocate for new legislation for disability rights and pay equity. >> i'm here before you today as a proud, disabled woman with my cane -- [ cheering ] >> -- and my service dog scout by my side. our laws and policies must reflect that our disabled lives are not of lesser value. >> selma blair, welcome to "meet the press." >> thank you. >> thank you for being here. >> you were diagnosed five years ago with multiple sclerosis. you are in remission. how are you doing, selma? >> i am in remission and that is a very safe place to be as far as diagnoses go, i do have -- even though there's no everyday of current disease activity, i do have the leftovers. i did have it for many years and didn't know and it does leave some burn areas and mine is in the basal ganglia and mine looks different than other people with ms. there's a gazillion types of m.s., but i'm doing very well. >> you have your beautiful dog scout here. are you in pain? talk about that. >> i'm in pain every day, and i have dystonia also that doesn't always flair up for entire conversation, but it's almost like someone with a stutter maybe or type of tourette's and people don't always understand that, so there can be discrimination and confusion with people thinking i'm putting something on and that i have a dog and i just want a dog with me. so there's a lot of tricky stuff, and the real fact is that i'm really in pain all the time, and there's a stiffness that does not leave me. >> i want to talk to you about your journey to diagnosis. you have written about it, and you have done a documentary about it. you say that you had symptoms starting at 7 years old? >> i mean, there is a pre-dermal period, so i'm not certain that it actually was a full-on, but there is -- my neurologist was saying there could be years of predermal and fatigue, and i would bend down and get electricity, and i had very clear signs and i had optical neuritis as a child that is only from brain trauma or m.s., and yet they didn't recognize it in me even though i was seeking doctors my entire childhood. >> you have said of your experience and this really was incredibly powerful, you said if you're a boy with those symptoms you get an mri. if you're a girl, you're called crazy. a number of studies support exactly what you are saying. why do you think that this continues to be a problem in medicine? >> they were older male doctors who really probably did not know the intricacies of a girl. not everything needs to be blamed on menstruation. but medical students don't have m.s., and m.s. is different for everyone, and they can be disguised as a number of emotional things. i have prefrontal damage that can cause hysterical crying and laughing, and i thought, wow, i'm just the wild one that wakes up in the middle of the night waking myself up laughing hysterically or sobbing in front of people and just maybe moody, maybe, and i believed all these things and i was put on very strong antidepressants from a very young age, and i drank. i drank because i felt so other. i just went in the basement and drank from a really young age. >> what age? >> i was 7. >> when you got the diagnosis you were describing real suffering and you were diagnosed at 46, what was that moment like for you, selma? >> i was relieved. i finally had something that could be understood and finally treated. it took me another year to realize a lot of my childhood symptoms were m.s. i thought oh, all of this poor feeling i had and the lethargy and attitude all of this has led to now i've given myself m.s., but it was the gratitude of people helping me. i was such a loner in my life. i was already sober by this point. i had really made an effort to get myself on track. more than an effort. it was a major change, and i am so grateful that i have been sober for years so i can properly, you know, process and -- and feel comfortable, realizing that people were doing this for me and realizing this is not the norm. >> when you think about those years that you went undiagnosed that doctors were, frankly, not listening to you, do you feel anger? >> sometimes, but i don't want to feel anger because -- i don't want to feel blame because maybe i wasn't ready to be diagnosed then. maybe i wouldn't have been able to quit drinking. i don't know, but i do -- the things that were such clear signs i went in with the part and i get more sad because it made me lose, you know, my entire years until diagnosis because -- because i hated myself for not -- for making up that i wasn't feeling well. i just believed that. >> well, you were recently at the white house and lending your powerful voice to mark the 50th anniversary of the americans with disabilities act. what was it like for you to be there at the white house? why was that important for you to be there? >> for me it was such a mark of how far i'd come, and i meant that as something that could be aspirational to people. not that you have to be cured, not that, oh, getting some great podium is the answer for something, but that there was such a vibrance in me a md it was like i had the energy to get on this plane and to get to have this incredible experience, and, of course, having that walk from the white house to the south lawn was really healing for me in so many ways having, you know, the most powerful man in the world like, you know, i'm on his arm, and i just thought, wow, things have changed, and a lot of this is with the help from the disability community. judy human who was the greatest organizer and rallier of her friends with disabilities. she was the grand dame. she created the american disabilities act. they did the sit-in when the government won't see it and just enabled people getting out of their wheelchairs and lying on the ground to say pay attention because growing up we did not have exposure to people with disabilities. it was like they didn't exist, and i had that mindset. not on purpose, just -- i just had very little awareness. >> what is your message to lawmakers? to the president? what do you want to see next for the disabled community? >> equity, accessibility. yes, of course, i am so grateful that anything was put into place, but again, sub-minimum wage for people with disabilities. you can work all day and get 50 cents an hour? no. why is that okay? that's a -- that's a really -- they just use it as slave labor to get disabled people out of the house to have something to do, and it's just -- it's really out of touch and wrong. i want equity. i want justice. i want this community and all other marginalized ones, too, of course, but the disability community is creative and strong and loyal and fun, and -- i mean, really, because there are people who have had to figure out situations, and i really don't do lip service. you really need to be with people with disabilities, and nothing about us without us is what i have heard said from the start when i joined up and it's like, right. oh, right, of course, we need a fit model that is a wheelchair user. of course, you need a real wheelchair user to go down the ramp and you're at the crux starting this conversation. >> our thanks to selma blair for her bravery in speaking out. you can watch my full interview with selma blair at meetthepress.com. that is all for today. thank you very much for watching. we will be back next week because if it's sunday it's "meet the press." what she endured is unthinkable. abigail was