Transcripts For MSNBCW The 20240703

Theres a lot going on. We will be talking a lot tonight about the latest news from the israelhamas war. But not only that story, we have had a bunch of Important News breaking today. International and in the United States. There is just one of those days. Theres a ton to get to. On israel and hamas. Obviously this is huge Breaking News within the past hour. That President Biden himself will travel to israel. The day after tomorrow wednesday. Secretary of state Antony Blinken making that big announcement tonight from israel. He announced the President Biden is coming tos yall monday also saying this. Which itself could be a very big deal. From multilateral organizations. To reach civilians in gaza. And them alone. Including the possibility of creating areas to help keep civilians out of harms way. To have the u. S. President heading there himself. And then to have what Secretary Blinken announced there. The u. S. Government announcing that they have got a plan with israel to get aid in to gaza. These are both very big developments. So we will be talking tonight about what this could mean for the course of the war. For israel and for hamas. Whove been pointing out impossible scituate the mission abroad, what his visit might be able to change, might be able to shake loose in terms of diplomatic progress. So theres a lot to talk about that tonight. I also will tell you about we heard tonight from the family of one of the hostages being held by hamas. This is the mother of a young man whos been held hostage since last saturday. We stayed in touch with her and her family the past week. Since her son was taken. It was interesting. Late today, we heard from her. And her family and other families of hostages had been contacted from representatives of the red cross. Seeking information of their Family Members being held. In her case, her sons asthmatic. Needs asthma medication every day. The red cross, according to her was speaking specific information on that. Telling estimate that she and her family are heartened by the outreach from the red cross. Theyre hopeful it means that there is some sort of substantive effort to make contact and establish connection with hostages, some care for those at the medical attention. This is for some. Her son is ron sherman. Young man whos been held hostage since last weekend. Along with nearly 200 other israelis who were taken by hamas. Number, nearly 200 according to the israeli government. In ron shermans, case mother tells us that hes a dual citizen of argentina. That dual citizenship factor might be important. Right after we heard from the family of the young man tonight. Nbcs Richard Engel broke in live to our coverage on nbc to report on interesting new developments. A statement from hamas. Specifically about the hostages. Watch. Chief spokesman for Hamas Military Wing issued a statement on camera in which the group is offering to release foreign hostages unconditionally. I think this could significantly change the way that things developing over the next several hours. Essentially changing the course of the conflict. It is the same channels moss releases its own videos. I have listened to audio and verified it in arabic. They are confirming that among the hostages there are a group of foreigners. Did not say how many. Saying that now they have confirmed they are foreign nationals. They are not party to the conflict. They are being treated quote as guests. And that hamas will release them quote when Field Conditions are right. This is i think coming from hamas. So it is healthy and appropriate to treat it with a deal of skepticism. But i know that from diplomatic sources ive been talking to all day. That there has been a lot of effort to try and convince hamas to release some hostages. I know a lot of work has gone into this. Because i have been speaking with our negotiators all day. They were expecting some sort of news. It could very well be hamass attempt to push back a ground invasion. Or it could be an attempt from hamas to not pick a fight with the United States. To say that its fighters with israel and with israel alone. So that it does not have delta forces and navy seals landing in the gaza strip looking for people. That Breaking News report today from Richard Engel. You can hear what sounds like explosions in the background behind him as he reported live in the clip from israel. We will be speaking with nbcs Richard Engel live again tonight. From israel and what is the first potential sign of progress. At least movement on the roughly 200 people. 200 israelis kidnapped in israel and being held as hostages by hamas in gaza. So we will be talking with richard about that obviously. Families of the hostages being held are hanging on every single word of any potential progress. It has been way too long all of these people have been held. And the families are on absolute hooks in terms of trying to get news, any word of progress. But again, this is internees. From the Administration Just this past hour. In the midst of the war, President Biden himself will be going to israel. The day after tomorrow on wednesday. A remarkable decision by the president in the circumstance. Joining what is already a large u. S. Response in terms of the overall u. S. Government response to this crisis. We already know that the u. S. Is sending a second Aircraft Carrier to the region. That itself is a remarkable decision. The u. S. Military is also sending advisers from the joint special Operations Command to advise on potential hostage rescue operations. Again, some americans are believed to be among the people held by hamas. Secretary of state blinken was himself personally back in israel today. Working among other things on trying to open the Border Crossing which is in the southern tip of the gaza strip. Crossing between gaza and egypt. Trying to arrange an opening of the Border Crossing to let aid in. To let civilians out. Secretary blinken announcing what appears to be progress on some kind of front tonight. Saying again. This is just Breaking News tonight that the u. S. And israel have agreed on some sort of plan to protect civilians and get aid in to gaza. We are eagerly looking forward to more details on what exactly that might mean. Talking about that ahead over the course of the next hour. From what it is worth. I thought this was fascinating. There is fascinating new poll. Just out from reuters that shows that a big majority of the United States. A big majority of the American Population views israel favorably. And also look at this. By huge margin. By both democrats and republicans. Huge margins americans want u. S. Diplomats to quote actively work on a plan to allow civilians fleeing fighting in gaza to move to a safe country. So you have americans broadly favorable towards israel and very strongly in favor of the u. S. Working to make sure civilians in gaza are safe. We have richard live tonight. Return reporter with us. Senior democrat of the committee joining us tonight. That is all to come. Because of the intense focus on the war in america knows and todays news, you might not have seen. Some big news and politics in europe. A country that had been flirting with the prospect of maybe giving up their democracy. Maybe heading towards a more authoritarian form of government. Something more like hungary or russia. Has decided not to go that way. In poland, this weekend the polish people turned out in huge numbers. For 74 Voter Turnout in poland. Bigger turnout in their most important election everyone they voted out the Communist Party in 1989. Most people turned out. Turning out an unprecedentedly gigantic numbers. Voting out the hard right party that had been the governing party there. The law and Justice Party. Important thing for the European Union support of ukraine. And russias war on ukraine. It helps us get our arms around the larger International Project that we in our country are subject to. Weve seen authoritarian anti democratic movements and leaders rise all over the world in recent years. I couldnt hear him but theres been no durable electoral pushback for example donald trump voted out of office in this Country Resoundingly in the United States in 2020. So jair bolsonaro, voted out of Power Resoundingly in 2022. Earlier this year in spain, we saw the hard right party there objecting unexpectedly by voters. And now this weekend, we have just seen polands very hard right law and Justice Party voted. It does not mean theres authoritarianism around the. But it does mean instances like these, big important countries with mature democracies. We are seeing big voter push back against trump type. Horrific to orban type leaders. Authoritarian leaders. They do not generally take well to elections voting them out of office. Part of why they try to undermine democracy full stop. In the case of donald trump and bolsonaro, we saw Mass Violence after they were voted out. Seeing supporters stormed the capitol to try to keep them in power after the lost elections. And so, eyes are on poland now for any potential eventuality like that. Or any kind of authoritarian rule that force shenanigans. To try to undo the polish Election Results from this weekend. But for, now that is an important result in europe. It looks like another win for small democrats against the admittedly still rising authoritarian tied. Here in our national capital, leader of the farright and de facto leader of the Republican Party is of course on trial for his alleged role in trying to overturn the results of the election in which is voted out. Its only one of four cases in which donald trump is currently facing multiple Felony Charges. But today, there was big news in his federal case in washington. Today the judge overseeing trumps federal criminal case in d. C. , the one about him trying to overthrow the lawfully elected government of the United States. That federal judge in washington today instituted a limited version of what is called a gag order that bans him by a court order from disparaging the prosecutors or potential witnesses in his case. Or any personnel who work for the courts and which is being tried. Now in terms of the exact contours of this court order, we are still expecting the judges written order. But she did rule verbally from the bench today. And we got the transcript of it which is amazing. It was all day long sort of rockham saw come hearing today. At the very end of it this was the judge giving part of the verbal version of the Gag Order Which Donald Trump will now be bound by. Saying this quote, i cant imagine any other criminal case in which a defendant is permitted to call a prosecutor deranged or a thug. And i will not permit it here, simply because the defendant is running a political campaign. His president ial candidacy does not give him Carte Blanche to vilify and implicitly encourage violence against Public Servants who are simply doing their job. My review of past statements made by mr. Trump in particular, as well as the evidence that they have led to harassment and threats for the people he is targeted persuades me that without this restriction, there is a real risk that witnesses may be intimidated or unduly influenced. And that other potential witnesses may be reluctant to come forward, lest they be subject to the same harassment and intimidation. She says this, quote, now, let me be clear. Mr. Trump may still vigorously seek public support of the president ial candidate, debate policies, and people related to that candidacy, and they criticized the current administration, and assert his believe that this prosecution is politically motivated. But those critical First Amendment freedoms do not allow him to launch a pretrial Smear Campaign against participating government staff, their families, and foreseeable witnesses. No other criminal defendant would be allowed to do so. And i am not going to allow it in this case. She then concludes with this. The reasons discussed during this hearing, therefore, i find that these measures are consistent with e rights secured by the first, fifth, and sixth amendments, and that they are both necessary and tailored to save the integrity of these proceedings as well as protect the saty of the people assisting with them. If any party or council, meaning any lawyer, any party or council violates these restrictions where the other laws or obligations by which they are bound, i will either upon receipt of a motion, or on my own as a judge, i will consider sanctions as may be necessary. Thank you. We are adjourned. Bang. The gavel falls. Accountability. Judge Tanya Chutkan ruling from the bench today in washington. We await the written version of this order. Trump already says hes going to appeal it but as of now he is bound by it. Meanwhile, republicans appear poised to elevate Donald Trumps closest major ally in congress to the speaker of the house, which would congressman jim jordan, among other things, third in the line of succession after the president s and the Vice President s. Jim jordan of course played a key role in trumps efforts to use congress to try and overturn the Election Result in 2020. If he does become speaker, i gotta say, it feels like it becomes basically an open question as to whether the house of representatives, under jim jordans leadership, would ever certify the Election Results of an election in which donald trump ran but lost. So, we will talk about this and if you get more later on this hour. Right now, we do not know if congressman jim jordan has the votes to become speaker. Just a couple of days ago, that seemed inconceivable. But he is at least got a real shot at it. The momentum seemed at least earlier today to be with him. We dont know. The vote is scheduled for noon eastern time tomorrow. One other thing to give you a heads up about today in the news and the other thing i want to say, this week, among all the things going on in the news, this week, Jury Selection is about to start for the first of the criminal cases in Fulton County, georgia. Fulton county, georgia is where former President Trump and 17 other defendants are going to face trial in state court for their efforts to overturn Election Results in georgia specifically. You see one of the original defendants has like a little label on the top of his head there. Hes pled guilty, which means that hes no longer in the ongoing cases. So now, we are down to 18 people total, including trump, charged in this big felony racketeering case. Fulton county starts picking a jury for the trial of the first two defendants in that Big Racketeering case this week. And the reason im putting this under radar right now, amid Everything Else going on, is because while that Fulton County effort is going to get started in court this week, dont sleep on this dynamic as well. In the legislature, in georgia, where republicans are in control of the legislature, they are trying already to use a new state law that they just passed to go after the prosecutor who is leading that investigation and who has brought that case in court. This is a new process that Georgia Republicans just newly wrote into law, and while they were debating it in the legislature, they said they definitely would not use it just for this case. It had nothing to do with fani willis and the trump case. It definitely work during this trial to get trump off the hook. As soon as theyve passed this, law Georgia Senate republicans have surprise, already used it to file a formal complaint against Fulton County District Attorney fani willis who is the prosecutor leading in the Racketeering Investigation and the Racketeering Prosecution Against Trump and his codefendants. They are doing it. Georgia republican Governor Brian Kemp has said he is not in favor of them doing this, at least not yet. And the fact that the power to go after a prosecutor like this is something brandnew, republicans just passed a new law to give themselves this power for the first time this year. That means nobody knows how this process will work or how long it will take, or what counts as normal for that process. So theres still a lot of uncertainty as to how this will play out. But i maintain that this is a Sleeper Issue with national significance. Keep your eye on this. Keep your eye on this, both because this is the first big multiple Felony Criminal Case that trump is implicated in that is going to try. Again, Jury Selection is starting this week. This is also a case that he cannot get out of with a pardon because its not a federal case. But keep your eye on this also because i think it is an underappreciated factor in criminal prosecutions that involve high power political figures that sometimes, inappropriate, deeply wrong, deeply unamerican pressure is brought to bear on the prosecution. And the reason i say that is because i keep writing books about it. I didnt mean to sit and be like the nations expect on this. But im telling you, it keeps coming around. Last week, we just hit 50 years exactly from the time that nixons Vice President shocked the country by resigning suddenly from office. He left the Vice Presidency because these brave young federal prosecutors confronted nixons Vice President with an indictment for more than three dozen Felony Charges for corruption. Bribery and extortion, whys president spiro agnew was literally taking envelopes stuffed with cash and shoveling them into a door in his white house office, walking in serving as Vice President. And part of the reason i described these prosecutors as brave is because the Nixon White House and the nixon era Republican Party brought all sorts of inappropriate pressure to bear against those prosecutors to try to force them to drop that case against the nixons Vice President. The u. S. Attorney who is overseeing those prosecutors, republican nixon appointed u. S. Attorney george bell, his brother with a republican u. S. Senator. His father had been a republican u. S. Senator. George bell died as a republican. He was basically a republican royalty in this country. He had been put in office as the u. S. Attorney by richard nixon. Nevertheless, emerges as a total hero here. Hes the one who resisted intense pressure that was put on him by the Nixon White House and the nixon era Republican Party to drop that case. And george bell protected his prosecutors, protected them from that pressure, destroyed his own career in the process, but he allowed those prosecutors to bring that case and it forced a sitting Vice President of the United States out of office under threat of 40 Felony Charges, 50 years ago this month. And it took incredible bravery and incredible fortitude for them to do it because the inappropriate that political pressure they were subjected to because spiro agnew was a powerful politician. And i do not, its weird how i am becoming a specialist in this stuff. But tomorrow i have a new book coming out, it is called prequel, american fight against fascism. And this book is the story of americans who sided with the nazis in the lead up to world war ii. Americans who helped the nazi cause, and in some cases, tried to bring about an american form of naziism here. The fact that there was a big, very radical, unnervingly, well connected fascist movement in this country in the lead up to world war ii has been a mostly forgotten story in u. S. History. But the details of it, i find, absolutely nuts, including the violent ultra right paramilitary groups that got put on trial for sedition. And members of congress who were working with a nazi agent. It is a story that is mostly lost to history. Prequel is that story, and it is the story of who fought against those forces, who exposed them, who fought them and infiltrated their groups, and prosecuted them in court. That is the thing that im most excited about in this book because i think it sort of gives us lessons, it gives us kind of an Instruction Book as to how they could effectively stand up to fascism when you are confronting with it today. I swear, i kid you not, embedded in that story is the fact that not once, but twice, members of congress who were implicated in this plot with a nazi agent, who are themselves implicated in this case that put all these paramilitary groups and pro nazi groups on trial for sedition. Those members of Congress Congress inappropriately pressured the Justice Department to fire the prosecutor who was leading that investigation and leading that case. And twice in that era, the u. S. Justice department did it. They did it. They succumbed to that political pressure and they fired the prosecutor. The prosecutor who was leading the investigation and leading the case. It happens twice in the story in my new book, prequel, about the fight to stop American Fascists in the lead up to world war ii. Republicans also were in a previous book i wrote about, spiro agnew prosecution, back man. Now, im telling you, as a de facto expert on the subject, never meant to be, but here i am. Now, im telling you, they are trying it in the state of georgia. What republicans are trying to get Prosecutor Fani Willis ousted somehow to remove her as prosecutors as she brings former President Trump to trial on felony racketeering charges. Anyway, ive been working on this for a long time. The book comes out tomorrow. Im saying im really proud of it, actually. So if you read it, i hope you like it. I hope you get something out of it. The story gives me a lot of hope. It gives me a lot of ideas about how to stand up to what we are up against today. Anyway but theyre stuns going on right now. Theres lots of news still to get to tonight. Weve got Richard Engel joining us live in just a moment. Stay with us. With us only Unitedhealthcare Medicare advantage plans come with the ucard one simple member card that opens doors for what matters. How bout using it at the pharmacy . Yes your ucard is all you need. impressed huh thats easy the allinone ucard, only from unitedhealthcare. As someone living with Type 2 Diabetes, i want to keep it real and talk about some risks. With Type 2 Diabetes you have up to 4 times greater risk of stroke, heart attack, or death. Even at your a1c goal, youre still at risk. Which if ignored could bring you here. May put you in one of those. Or even worse. Too much . Thats the point. Get real about your risks and do something about it. 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The hour, there have been some Significant Developments tonight in the israelhamas war. This past hour, we learned that President Biden is going to personally travel to tel aviv, The Day After Tomorrow on wednesday. He is expected to meet with israeli Prime Minister netanyahu and other israeli officials. The president will also go to the neighboring nation of german to amman. Jordan is of course a key ally for the u. S. In the region. There is also news tonight, first broken on our air by richard angle, that hamas is now stating that it has between 200 and 1 50 hostages in gaza. S betwee 200 and 1 50 hostages in gaza. Hamas also releasing a statement that they are looking to release some of the people people described as foreign nationals who say theyre being held not as hostage as about as their guests. They said they are looking to release them when Field Conditions permit their release. We dont know what that means but this is an important advance at least in the story of what has become 200 maybe more people who are being held by hamas. Nbc news chief Court Foreign correspondent Richard Engels reporting from israel, near the israeli gaza voter. Richard, thanks for staying up to join us. What do you make of this statement from hamas, why are they doing, it what do you think it means . They doing, it what do you think it m eans i think its a very significant thing, rachel. And i think it means that there is movement on this issue after hearing nothing from hamas. Hamas said that it is holding 200 hostages. It said that other groups, however, in the gaza strip are holding more hostages. So, they are talking about with, the military wing of hamas, 200 and then 50 or more according to the spokesperson of Hamas Inside The Gaza Strip total. And among those, 200 let hamas says its holding, it says theres an unspecified number of foreign nationals. And that it is willing to hand them over, that it wants to hand them over, that it doesnt believe that they are a party to this conflict, and that it has no issue with them. And it will hand them over when the conditions are right. As you said, what does it mean when the commissions, conditions are right . Also, if you hours ago, slightly before hamas issued that statement, irans Foreign Minister said that hamas is expressing a will in this to release hostages when israel, or if israel stops its airstrikes into gaza. So, we are hearing similar messages, both from iran and from hamas about releasing hostages, talking about Field Conditions at the same time. So, there is movement on this issue. The issue is, however, they are only talking about those hostages who are dual nationals or foreigners. And they also said that any people who were taken, any hostages that were taken, that were fighting, even if they are americans, or french, they did not mention nationalities, but foreign nationals but serving in the israeli military, or serving in a fighting capacity, they would be considered for this arrangement, they would be considered combatants and they will be treated like israelis. So, it seems what hamas is trying to do is create a division, create a wedge, to say that its fight is with israel and israel alone, and not with the United States, not with the rest of the world. And this comes amid a lot of international diplomacy, a lot of efforts by the United States and other countries and its allies to try and get movement on this issue and try and get those hostages out, hopefully, just to start. And, richard, i dont want to get too far ahead of the story, to imagine sort of too much nittygritty here that we can get at. But it seems like, even if theyre trying to establish some sort of divide between different types of hostages, the release of any hostages is both good for those people, who could then potentially be saved, but also potentially strategically important for getting more, or potentially, all of the hostages out, because presumably the people released could help in terms of finding the rest of them, couldnt they . 100 . You take the yes. If hamas is willing to give up hostages and not asking for any specific thing in return except for potentially, just a temporary halt in the bombings, we dont know exactly what hamas is asking for. We are not party to those conversations between hamas and different negotiators. But what they are publicly asking and what iran is also suggesting is, stopping the airstrikes. Yes, get those people out. And then, see what they know, see where they were taken. What is the mentality, how were they being treated, what do they know about the other hostages. Absolutely, that could lead to more intelligence, more leads, and provide tremendous relief to the hostages themselves, who may be injured, absolutely terrified, and their families, i was myself in the middle east, i was taken hostage in the middle east, not by hamas, but by another group. And i can tell you the amount of stress that it puts on the people taken in their families. Absolutely, it would be good for them and potentially good for the rest. Richard, i was interested to hear you say that you were in touch with people involved in a number of arab countries, who have been working on trying to negotiate something, make some contact, some progress on the hostage issue. We heard from hostages, Family Members today, contacted by people from the red cross, and other Nonprofit Ngo groups that are trying to work on this issue. Do you sense, what you are hearing from israeli and american officials, and other people in the region, do you think this is a life thing thats being worked on right now . Is this something that is not just individual statements, but theres actual person to negotiation happening here and that we might get movements soon . Yes, there is motion on this, and there are contacts that are happening. And they are happening in realtime. That is certainly the case. There is a lot of effort focused on this. Theres effort focused on this around the world. I dont believe the statement was issued in isolation, that it was something that hamas just threw out there. Yes, this is a concerted International Effort, and i believe its the result of some diplomacy. Now, what will happen with it . Will it come true . Is there is so much that can go wrong here . This is still an active war zone. You can hear where i am right now, there is the loud buzzing of israeli drones overhead. We have been hearing some continued strikes into gaza. So, there is an opening, there is movement here. But there is no sort of guarantee of success at this stage. But to go back to your original question, was this the result of some concerted International Effort . I believe it was. Richard engel, chief Foreign Correspondent for nbc news. Richard, you are never allowed to be taken hostage again, and you must stay safe. All of us aged many decades over those days that you were gone, my friend. Thank you for joining us. All right, weve got much more ahead here tonight. Ayman mohyeldin its gonna be joining us here tonight. Weve got a Senior Member of the Intelligence Committee joining us. Lots to get to, stay with us. , stay with us smelling ew. Gotta get rid of this. Tell me why because it stinks. Have you tried downy rinse and refresh it helps remove odors 3x better than detergent alone. It worked guys Yeahhhh Downy rinse and refresh. 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Oh hunny bunny, thats so sweet. important Breaking News tonight on the ongoing war between israel and hamas. First of all, as weve been talking about for the last hour or so, President Biden will visit israel. He will visit tel aviv on wednesday, and announcing that tonight, though, Secretary Of State Antony Blinken also said this. He said that the United States and israel, quote, have agreed to develop a plan that will enable humanitarian aid to reach civilians in gaza. He also talked about this plan involving some plans for keeping civilians safe inside gaza. This, of course, is front of mind for many, many, many observers of this conflict, and has seemed like an intractable problem, which has been basically no progress over recent days. Joining me right now is my friend ayman mohyeldin, hes a veteran reporter of the israeli hamas conflict. And he is host of ayman on msnbc. Ayman, great to see you. Thank you for having me. Obviously the devil is in the details here. Is there anything else more that we can say . Do we know anything else about this plan that Secretary Blinken alluded to . I think we have a little bit more clarity on what is happening behind the scenes on the diplomatic front. I think it is safe to say, and i have been speaking to a lot of sources across the region throughout the day today, there are now two tracks that are emerging simultaneously on the diplomatic front. One has to deal with the hostages, that is being coordinated mostly out of doha, qatar, u. S. Israeli negotiation with hamas, not directly, but as you can imagine for all those parties. And then, the second one, the humanitarian one, and that involves more the gulf countries, and that includes the united arab emirates, saudi arabia, and egypt, with the United States and as well on how to get those supplies. Those two tracks are happening simultaneously. There are serious obstacles to the humanitarian effort right now, why egypt is not able to go ahead and deliver the aid. As we know, a lot of aid is being diverted right now to the sinai peninsula, the airport there. But its not yet able to get inside gaza for both security and logistical challenges. Lets talk about that because obviously, the gaza strip, just geographically, its about 25 miles along, and average about five miles wide. Theres a northern crossing into israel that is closest. Theres a Southern Crossing into egypt, that is a question. So, it would seem from this perspective that its up to egypt whether or not there is flow either direction through that crossing. But you said that essentially, you feel that egypts constraint. Egypt feels constrained as to what it can do, not just what it wants to do. Again, even with a discussion on humanitarian relief, there are two components to it, one, letting palestinians out of the gaza strip. And even with that one, are you talking about the dual citizens, the dual nationals . Or hundreds of thousands of palestinians . So, in each subcategory, egypt has a different position on what to do and how to do it. But in terms of getting aid into gaza, which is right now the immediate concern of the Egyptian Government and the International Community because electricity is out, water is out, food is out, madison is out. Food is running low. They are trying to get that in. However, as we saw today, there was an israeli strike on the border, on the palestinian side of the border with rafah, that complicates things. Egypt has asked for Security Guarantees from israel to allow the delivery of aid into gaza. Israel maintaining operational tempo, and saying we are in control of the battlefield, has not given, as i understood from the sources ive spoken to, has not given a clear assurance that anything going into gaza right now would slow their operations down. Is that the piece of it that the u. S. May have a breakthrough on it, in terms of Secretary Blinken saying tonight that the u. S. And israel have agreed to a plan to allow humanitarian aid in. If israel is the party that needs to say yes there, that if the u. S. Has been able to achieve that, then i cant speculate on that right now, and we will have to say what the announcement is from the israelis and the americans, when that does get announced. But i go from what the egyptian officials and other arab officials ive spoken to is the logistics, depending on the security, conditions on the ground. And as we even heard with richard about the possible release of any foreign hostages. Hamas said that depends on the Field Conditions. And right now, as weve seen, the conditions of the battlefield remain very challenging for palestinians leaving from the north to the south, and even trying to get out. Today, as i said, we Saw Rafah Crossing With Hundreds Of American Citizens on the palestinian side, as well as other dual nationals, get struck by israel. And this was according to the Egyptian Ministry of health. Wow. And of course with President Biden himself planning to travel to israel in two days now, that opens up all sorts of questions as to whether that may shake some things loose. Ayman mohyeldin, their own reporter with lots of experience in this region, and also my dear friend. But to have you here, my friend. Thank you. Congratulations on the book. Thank you. All right, more to come tonight. Stay with us. With us there are some things that go better. Together. Burger and fries. Soup and salad. Like your Workplace Benefits and retirement savings. With voya, considering all your financial choices together can help you make smarter decisions. Voya. Well planned. Well invested. Well protected. Bladder leak underwear has one job. I just want to feel protected especially for those sudden gush moments. When your keys are in the door and your bodys like, its happening if youre worried about your protection, its not the right protection. Always discreet protects like no other. With double leak guards that help prevent gushes escaping from the sides. And a rapid dry core that locks in your heaviest gush quickly for up to zero leaks. And it contours, to everybody. Now this, is protection Always Discreet the protection we deserve i told you it was a busy night tonight. Joining us now live here in studio as congressman jim himes, democrat of connecticut. He is the Wrecking Number of the house Intelligence Committee, which is always important on days like this, and its crazy important especially. Congressman, nice to see you. Good to see, raiche. Do you think that President Bidens personal plans to visit israel The Day After Tomorrow are indicative of, there has been some sort of breakthrough that he wants to be there to take credit for . Or is he going there for something that will hopefully shake loose those diplomatic investments that we havent yet seen. I dont think theres anything to celebrate just yet, based on the contacts ive had over the last week or so, at the white house, the state department, and elsewhere, i think what this is largely about is just indicating his personal and the u. S. s commitment to keeping this or from getting regional, from getting bigger. You know, to Carrier Strike groups in the region, and the movement of a couple of air wings, and the president of the United States visiting not just israel. By the way, if you saw the statement today, visiting as well to support as well as we do, but also saying theres a huge difference between palestinians, especially innocent palestinians, and hamas. Also going to jordan, also going to egypt. Thats as to iran, it says to hezbollah and other Terrorist Elements in the west bank, dont do it. Thats really critical. That kind of focal press that you are describing, political, diplomatic, military from the United States, do you think that we will be at real risk of a regional conflict . Very much so. And its not even close to a done deal yet, right . This is one of the reasons, and they mourn reasons for encouraging the israelis to be very careful and abide by the laws of Armed Conflict and, et cetera, et cetera. Hezbollah faces politics too. And if the images coming out of gaza in the Military Operation or as brutal as hamas would like them to be, as well a might feel they have no choice but to jump in. And today, it happened, it would be very, very bad. That happened a week ago when israel was caught on the back feet. It could be two crises for the state of israel. What about our allies in the region, countries like jordan where the president is going to be visiting, the issue of leverage and diplomatic skill when it comes to nations like qatar, trying to intervene in the hostage issue. Theres thorny questions, as i was discussing with ayman about egypt and its own interests in the china peninsula, the crossing with gaza, what its being asked to do, what it feels it can do. What do you make of our diplomatic effort right now . How much effort is being done there . And what else can be done that hasnt already happened . Apart from just what we were talking about, keeping the conflict from lightning, egypt, jordan, saudi arabia, these rulers are very much worried about their own heads. And right now, they are thinking hours straight. And this is certainly with the king of jordan. Its true in egypt where they have massive economic problems to begin with. Saudi arabia is a little different case. They are worried about their own survival. So they too have an interest in this conflict not widening widening. Theyll soften it was because, they released a statement, pretty excessively, pro palestinian. By that i mean no problem being procrastinate, but pro hamas takes us to a whole other world. They are when you are the mother of sorrow. E th mother o in terms of what the. Response can be, we expect there will be an emergency to israel nothing goes to the u. S. House when there is no United States house. Do you think that republicans are going to elect jim jordan . Jim jordan, to be the speaker of the house tomorrow . Its been, for many reasons, its been a difficult day. But i just never imagined that we would be at a point where we are talking about a speaker, jim jordan. Coming back to a question, i mean, nobody, i think nobody did more than justify, and the paper over not just trumps miss behavior, not a good idea to tell zelenskyy that youre not gonna send military aid unless you turn on biden. But also after january 6th. He was trying to figure out how big the plan was to stop the peaceful transfer of power. And jim jordan was right in the mix of that. Back to your question, the white house is, i think, what i heard a couple of days ago, they are going to submit a package to congress that will involve both ukraine aid and aid for as well. Its gonna make an awful lot of republicans pretty angry. But i know that my party and the senate, both sides of the aisle, care a lot about both. So i think youre gonna see that from the white house, and the senate. And if we just happened to stumble upon a house speaker, maybe we will take that too. Wow, i cant believe this is the hand we have to play at this exact moment it had to be now, right . Congressman jim himes, democrat of connecticut, hes a ranking member, top democrat in the house Intelligence Committee. Always good to have you here, sir. Thank you, rachel. All right, well be right back. Stay with us. With us get it with gurus. 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