we had reported that the expectation would be that we first needed to see if we could get through the first day and the second day of the hostages being released and if everything goes well, then discussions of additional hostages beyond the women and children getting out. i have the tell you that i do feel it is getting ahead of ourselves. and obviously, the first delay and questions asked about could we expect further complication, and they cannot say without confidence that the first day goes well that the second batch of hostages would go on time. so we are in a fluid situation, and we have to see if the truce happens on time, and if the release of the second group happens on time, and then whether the second list of hostages whether that exchange can happen on time as well, and all of that remains to be seen. yeah, tomorrow is going to be really the template for all of this starting midnight eastern tonight is when we will see this going into effect, and see how smooth
shipping. that is the nastional securiy spokesman john kirby who we heard this week that they are concerned that russia is going to try to frame the ukrainians for attacks on the civilian ships in black sea. of course, they are watching to see if russia lays mines as well at the ukrainian ports to prevent that grain from exiting ukraine. kate. important point that you have made though is the similar message from bill byrnes to john kirby at the white house about the coordinated messaging to go public to talk about it. that is extremely interesting. thank you, natasha bertrand. and now, joining us to talk about this is general mark kimmett, and i wanted to talk about the cluster munitions that the u.s. has provided, and could this be a game-changer in counter offensive, and what do
you see? no, i don t think it is a game-changer. it is important. it adds to the capability of ukrainians to get through that obstacle belt from hell. it is great for going against the troops in bunkers and possibly some of the armored vehicles in the rear, but it is not going to be a game-changer, but lit help. important but not a game-changer, and this is important context for us to understand. general kimmett, can i ask you about the warning from our colleague natasha bertrand that russia could present a false flag operation in the black sea for example. what would that look like? well, it was said earlier they could be floating ukrainian mine near a civilian ship. they could be conducting an attack against a turkish port for instance, but the best thing that could happen is what bill byrnes did which is to ul kate out and reveal it, and if you
happening on the ground. general mark kimmett, i appreciate your perspective. abby and mark, stick around a little longer, please. up next, we re talking about the end game. the markets are about to reopen after a holiday close that was anything but ideal. the only question today could be how bad could it be? we ve got more as the markets are set to open just minutes away on msnbc. kayla: our dad was in the hospital. josh: because of smoking. but we still had to have a cigarette. had to. kayla: do you know how hard it is to smoke in a hospital? by the time we could, we were like. what are we doing? kayla: it was time for nicodermcq. the nicodermcq patch with unique extended release technology helps prevent your urge to smoke all day. and doubles your chances of quitting.
and then disrupt your pentagon. it is just absolutely amazing. there s going to be very little time for transition. and, i mean, mattis is very subtle, both in the letter to the troops and the letter to the president, undermining the president s branding on the syria operation that everything s going well. and it s quite extraordinary. i mean, i keep thinking back to president bush and mission accomplished. and presidents have got to be very careful about how they brand. i don t know if that s the right word, military operations. general kimmett, only a couple seconds left. quickly to you, patrick shanahan will become the person who will lead the department of defense on an interim basis. are you confident in his ability to bring the troops together over the next however many months? i certainly am. more importantly, general votell, they re not going anywhere, they re going to make modifications to their plans. what s happening back in washington is far less significant than what s