>> martha: excited to see the tree show up. good afternoon. i'm martha maccallum. right now on "the story," this quote from the white house just moments ago, it's not the age, it's the experience. responding just a couple minutes ago to some reports of panic behind the scenes on the president's 81st birthday. a lot of people concerned and getting louder about it as it gathers momentum saying he needs to step aside, that he's too old to be president for another term. so meanwhile, there's numbers to back this up. he's just hit an all-time low in his job approval, this is an nbc poll that just came out. 57% disapproval number for president biden. for the first time in these numbers, he loses to former president trump in a hypothetical matchup. his support slipping while trump's numbers have stayed roughly the same. what is increasing are the number of people that say that they are not sure who they want to vote for. also, since october 7th, a new road block has emerged for this current president. it is his handling of the situation in the israel-hamas war. a lot of people unhappy with his support for israel. he's under water in his own party, young people and independents, very objectionable to this action. they object to this action. watch this. >> could the president lose re-election because of what is happening in gaza right now? >> independents obviously more than two to one disapprove. you don't want to be there. democrats, 21%, more than one in five, say they disapprove. you need much more unified support in your own party if you're going to have a successful re-election campaign. >> do i think joe biden can do the job? absolutely. i don't think he can win the job. that's what i care about. he's going to lose. the people think he's too old. >> martha: from bill maher at the end there. lisa boothe, host of "the truth with lisa truth" and marc thiessen joining us and mark penn is with us as well. both are fox news contributors. great to have you all with us today. let me start with you, lisa. your reaction. good to have you with us. your reaction to that montage that we just played. for a while it was just mark penn that was saying this. but now there's a lot of people that are jumping on board with this idea. lisa, so where do you think this leaves the president on his 81st birthday? we wish him a happy birthday today. >> he's probably not feeling that great about his birthday when you're looking at all of these numbers heading into the 2024 presidential election. who thinks this country is on the right track? i mean, it's a very small percentage of the population. if you're joe biden, what makes you the most nervous is looking at the most recent new york times poll. we know that presidential elections, it comes down to a handful of states that dictate that outcome showing that trump was leading in five out of six states under 30 voters, biden was winning by a single point. he was in single digits with hispanics. trump was at 22% in those swing states with black voters, which is something that we've never seen before. you have people like david axlerod saying biden has a 50/50 chance, maybe less. i'll say all of this with one caveat. democrats are trying to put the republican nominee in jail. so we don't know how that will impact the outcome of the election. >> martha: yeah, a lot to get figured out. that's for sure. mark penn, because we have marc thiessen with us as well, but mark penn, i don't know how much attention you play to cardi b. i don't pay that much attention to cardi b., i have to admit. but i remember when she endorsed president biden and that young people thought it was a big deal. i want to play what she's saying now. when i really looked at this earlier today, i think besides what we're going to have to bleep out here, she's kind of saying a lot and hitting the nail on the head. let's watch. >> i'm not endorsing no [bleep] presidents no more. how is it 100 million budget cut in new york city for [bleep] schools, libraries, police safety and sanitation, yet joe biden is talking about like yeah, we could fund two wars. [bleep]. talking about it. but we don't get it. we're the greatest nation. no, we're not. we're going there some [bleep] now. like say it. >> martha: so i guarantee yo that hundreds of thousands if not millions of people from age 18 to 49 probably have seen that on instagram. probably watched her on tik tok as well. she's complaining about the migrant issue in new york city, which has caused eric adams to cut back on all of these services. she says no, we can't do two wars around do this at the same time. what do you make of it, mark penn? >> i've been sounding the alarm for months about these numbers and the president needs to do something about them. there's no question. you ask people, they're concerned about inflation, they're concerned about immigration, they're concerned about crime. these are all causing a pretty big deterioration in the numbers. there's still a year here. one poll finding, i point out, 77% of democrats back joe biden for the nomination. it doesn't seem to be a big democratic split. does seem to be voters really concerned about joe biden and what he would do a second term and she's a good example of it. i don't think young people are going to flee and vote for donald trump, but i think the president has to act on these numbers. >> martha: yeah, marc thiessen, he's really in a tough spot with this israel palestinian issue. because he's bleeding younger voters on this. you can see the protests across the country. i never thought i would see a democrat in so much trouble with so many voters on their own side. >> well, this has become a problem that the democratic party has allowed anti-semitism to seep into its ranks. he would absorb that if he did well on everything else. the majority of americans think he's too old and he's doing a terrible job. they wouldn't care about his age if inflation is low, the economy was humming, the border was secure and peace in the world. he could say like ronald reagan did, it's morning in america again. nobody complained about ronald reagan's age because everything was going well. lisa mentioned that in "the new york times" sienna poll. if you take joe biden off of the ticket, the democrats crush donald trump in all of the swing states. so the answer for the democrats is to replace biden. everybody knows that he's not going to be able to complete a second term. there's no way that he's going to be president five years from now. so the smart thing, if they can't get biden to leave the ticket, maybe the answer is to replace the vice president and make them the chosen successor. pick a popular democrat to replace kamala harris on the ticket and then, you know, imply that joe biden gets to pick his own successful, avoid a fractured party fight and hand it over. you can't do that because of identity politics, they'll never fire the first black woman president. they're trapped by their own identity politics. >> martha: i think it's a very interesting plan, mark penn. is it one that is doable? quickly before i get you out of here. >> sandra: you know, who would that person be? do you think that joe biden has the guts to do that? >> i think joe biden is going to be the democratic nominee. the entire party, more democrats than ever are still backing him. he has to improve his numbers. any democrat that stepped in with him would have the problems of immigration and crime. he's not going anywhere. >> martha: not going to pick a different v.p.? >> it's not going to happen. >> sandra: what about kamala? >> she's not going anywhere. >> martha: very true. >> you have a problem. >> martha: maybe have a didn't number 2 and present the thought about marc thiessen had -- >> save the democratic party. >> we want joe biden. >> martha: we'll see. thanks, guys. happy thanksgiving. >> happy thanksgiving. thanks for being here today with me. >> martha: as we know, there's nine americans that are still unaccounted for after the horrific barbaric terror attack of october 7th in israel. their families are holding out hope that a deal may be near that would free dozens of women and children first believed to have spent the past six weeks in the hands of hamas. my next guest, marine veteran rocky sickman, knows what this is like. he survived a similar nightmare for 444 days in captivity in tehran from 1979 to 1981. he tells us what may be going through their minds right now next. >> mr. president, is a hostage deal near? >> i believe so. i'm not prepared to talk to you. >> you believe so? >> yes. >> how soon? [sneeze] dude you coming? because the only thing dripping should be your style. plop plop fizz fizz with alka-seltzer plus cold & flu relief. also try for fizzy fast cough relief. ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com. veterans, if you're applying for a home loan to get cash...surprise. some lenders charge hundreds upfront for your appraisal and other fees. not at newday. a veteran shouldn't have to come up with money to get money. the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. >> martha: president president biden says that he believes there's a deal that is near to free some of the hostages that are being held in gaza. "the washington post" reporting that israel and hamas are close open an agreement that would release 50 women and children. it would be a five-day pause in the fighting and also see a period where more humanitarian aid would flow in to gaza. the white house was asked about this. here's what they said. watch. >> we're still working this hour by hour. i don't have an update on the hostage deal. as you heard the deputy national security adviser say yesterday, we believe we're closer than we've ever been. >> so these are tense times obviously for all of these families, this is a gentleman that knows what that feels like. u.s. marine veteran rocky sickman was 444 days as a hostage in iran after the storming of the u.s. embassy there where he was standing guard in 1979. we'll speak with him in just a moment. first, let's go to jeff paul reporting live in southern israel. hi, jeff. >> yeah, martha. even qatar's prime minister who has been involved in the tense negotiations says only minor challenges remain. as it stands on the ground in israel, there's not a deal just yet. only angering the families of the more than 200 hostages that were taken back on october 7th.many spending the last five days marching from tel aviv to jerusalem to put pressure on israeli government officials to do something. tonight some of those very families are in tel aviv once again meeting with israeli car cabinet ministers and members of the war cabinet to push them to bring the hostages home. multiple reports indicate the deal would involve the release of 50 women and children hostages in exchange for a four to five-day pause in fighting. the stoppage could allow more aid to come in to gaza. the israeli government says while it's a priority to get thes hostages back, any sort of agreement does not mean that the mission to root out hamas is over. >> etch if there is a pause to return our hostages, we will turn and strike the enemy with all of our might. the military campaign is intensifying and deepening. >> despite this talk of a hostage deal, the fighting in northern gaza continues. the idf says they have obtained cct footage from inside shifa hospital showing two foreign nationals being taken into the hospital. the most recent tunnel was found in the hospital complex 30 feet below the surface running 180 feet wide. we're also following the developments about this hijacked ship in the southern red sea. martha? >> martha: thanks, jeff. we'll get more in to that in just a moment. first, my next best spent more than a year as a hostage in tehran after the storming of the embassy in 1971. that's my next guest with his head tipped back and a blind fold tight over his face being paraded with other hostages outside of the embassy in 1979. they were stunning and frightening photos for americans that watched these photos and images on a daily basis in this country hoping and praying for the release of these individuals. rocky sickman is a u.s. marine veteran and the author of iranian hostage a personal diary of 444 days in captivity. rocky, thank you very much for being with us today. thanks for your surface. we think about you as we thought about you during those days back in 1979 and hope for your release. when you see that image even today, sir what goes through your mind when you see yourself blind folded and head captive and being shown around for the cameras in that moment? >> you know, martha, thanks for having me on. when i looked at these pictures, it's not only myself that i think of now, it's really what my poor parents went through. i was not married back then. the uncertain for 444 days. i mean, for the hostages, myself, the first 30 days you were tied to a chair and not allowed to speak. 44 years ago, i was getting ready to spend my first thanksgiving tied to a chair. my parents taught me love of family, country and god. that led me through the darkest hours. like i said, martha, it's not so much me, but my parents, my family. what they went through. we were devastated. >> i can not imagine. we know that these families -- there's families in israel that have children that are in there, little children. your parents had a child there, too. you were 22 years old. i have kids in that age range and i would think of them as my child being held as well. i'm talking about a 10-year-old, a 9-month-old. what did you do to keep yourself sane during that period and to keep yourself going day after day? >> you know, there were 60 some hostages that were taken. everybody had a different story. my story, like i said, i was tied to a chair. i relive my growing up in that small town of missouri. my mother would make thanksgiving, have that bird. i can smell the turkey being cooked and her homemade bread and her homemade rolls. the comradery. your loved ones, your family and friends coming together. you just knew that you weren't there, but you had to go to a positive place. all the hostages were trying to find a positive thing. we as americans should not forget our americans. i had no idea, martha, that the whole world -- it's right after the vietnam war. 1975, the vietnam war ended. when the veterans came home, they were spit on. nobody cared about them. you go to 1979, you thought you were for gotten. it's one of those things that you prayed a lot. >> martha: devastating. yeah. i can imagine as a little kid my parents watching the news and shaking their heads. they could believe what was happening to see americans held this way. we have recently lost five special ops soldiers that were training for a mission in the eastern mediterranean. when you there, a helicopter went down in the iranian desert that was on its way to rescue you. what are your thoughts about that, about the efforts to save these people and what you were aware of? >> i had no idea. april 25, 1980, that eight individuals lost their life in an attempted rescue operation. it wasn't until i came home and i found out that these eight individuals sacrificed their life for my life. i work for folds of honor. they provide scholarships for children of the fallen soldiers and first responders. every day i wake up, i have the capability of going to the refrigerator and getting ice and water, going to the rest room whenever i want to, take a shower whenever i want. when you're stripped of your freedom, your dignity and your pride, you have no idea. we live in the best country ever. but the war on terror started november 4, 1979 and continued the past 44 years. the islamic republic of iran is the head of it. >> martha: i look forward to speaking with you more, rocky and learning about your story. we're going to do that. thanks for being here and thank you for your support for these people. you know better than most of us what is their experience right now and that of their families which you so point out. thanks, rocky. thanks for talking with us. hope to have you back soon. >> martha: thank you, martha. so iran backed militants with hezbollah with new drone strikes in northern israel as the houthis hit from the east amount dramatic seizure of a ship and hostage taking in the red sea as iran and what you're looking at right here, the ayatollah touting their new hypersonic missile. where is that all going? we're back live inside israel next. 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