Thanks for you at home for joining us this hour. And we happy to have you here. I will say just one note before we get started tonight. I know things might look a little different than usual, that is just because i am doing the show tonight from someplace new. I am in los angeles tonight. I am at what is essentially the midpoint of this book tour that im doing for my new book. Thats why im here. I am not a great traveler [laughter] i am not great at this. Just before i start the show tonight, i just want to say thank you to all the bookstores and the venues that weve been at so far, and all the moderators who have been onstage with me. Thanks in particular to everyone who has come up to one of these events and has been, there is been thousands of people so far, which is crazy. But its just been really nice to be out there at so many events and so many different cities to meet people who value this show, who love msnbc. Ive heard a lot of love from my msnbc colleagues. So, its been fantastic. And i do this very, very rarely, and i know that theres a huge amount of work and a pain in the but for everyone involved to make this happen, in part because i personally i am a pain in that bucket. So, it just makes me all the more grateful. Ou of the rest of this book tua, again, we are about haway done. Only two days left thatstill have faith, and those are events this week, phoenix on wednesday, and tulsa, oklahoma on friday. So, if you want to come to ther of those events this week, phoenix and tuls, those two remaining events, you can still get tickets, Everything Else is sold out. I just wanted to start with that before we get underway today. I will not mention it again. I just want to say thanks to everybody who has been so kind. Thanks to everybody whos been reading the book and coming out to hear me talk about it. That is why things look a little bit different in terms of the set. But we have a ton to get to tonight. Its gonna be a really busy week in the news. Tonight, of course, we are coming off on three weeks since republicans fired their own Speaker Of The House. In so doing, they basically got rid of congress. They barely avoided shutting down the whole federal government, but then, they did shut down the legislative branch of government. The house Cannot Function without a speaker. Republicans fired their speaker. They appear to have no idea how to hire and you want. They also appear to have no real urgency about doing either, so we have we are three weeks into the House Of Representatives effectively being closed. But they are apparently going to try again for a speaker vote tomorrow. We will talk about that this hour. We will talk specifically about how republicans idea for a plan b, they sort of trick play theyve been hinting they might want to pull to avoid having to pick a leader. That is a trick play that will not work. It is something that they really cant do. We will talk about that this hour. But it just with all the more pressure on them for tomorrow. Im also, just a heads up, that at the same time that drama is gonna get underway in washington tomorrow, up the corridor in New York City tomorrow, we are going to have drama of a different kind. And this is likely all going to be happening literally at the same time of day tomorrow. Former president donald trump, as you know, he is facing more than 90 Felony Criminal Charges in four different jurisdictions. The case thats been actually showing in court already is none of those criminal cases, it is the civil case against him and his business that was filed by the new York Attorney general. They do not have to show up for a civil case. Former President Trump does not have to be there in court for this case. But nevertheless, he has been there. And i am pointing that out because tomorrow, we are expecting live testimony in that trial, testimony against him from his former attorney and his former fixer Michael Cohen. Both Michael Cohen and trump are expected to be there in court, in realtime, in person. I am flagging this to you, not just because of the expected interpersonal drama, the spectacle of it all, but because trumps role in this case, including his behavior in the courtroom, has already been a substantive issue in this case. This is the case where the judge imposed the first gag order on trump, after trump attacked a member of the judges staff. This is the case where the judge hauled everyone back to court and threatened trump with jail, after trumps attacks on thes staff, nevertheless left up on the Trump Campaign website, this is the case where trump was admonished, basically legally snapped down by the judge, because trump became so enraged and animated during some Life Testimony from some Real Estate Appraiser that trump could not control himself in the courtroom. He was speaking out loud and gesturing, and making a scene in the courtroom, which caused the judge to admonish him in the courtroom. So, this case has been a little touch and go so far, in terms of the former president s behavior. He is used to doing whatever he wants without any consequences his whole life. This case in particular seems to be really bothering him. And the judge in this case thus far appears to be quite unimpressed by the former president s behavior. The judge also seems to be unafraid to hold the former president to the same standards any other defendant would be held in a federal court civil trial, including just how you need to physically behave yourself when you are in a courtroom. I am pointing all this out because if trump already got admonished by the judge in this case because he was so overwhelmed by his feelings and his anger about some appraisers testimony, tomorrow is gonna be sitting there, talking about Michael Cohen, which is likely to be way more provocative and way more upsetting to former President Trump than anything that has happened in the courtroom before. And he has barely been able to hold it together in the courtroom up till now. And then, There Is Gonna Be Cross Examination of Michael Cohen. Cohens lawyers, not likely gonna be a fourth of July Fireworks show at the rest of july, gonna be anything to go by. So, thats gonna be tomorrow. That is all gonna happen live in a new york courtroom in front of a judge who does not play. And maybe everything will go smoothly, great, everyone will be calm, cool, and professional. We shall see. But this is the case where the judge has already threatened to jail trump for his behavior related to this case. And so, just a heads up for tomorrow. For that, that will likely be happening at the exact same time that the house is voting, again, on trying to pick a new speaker. It is all worth watching for. So, i want to get into tonights show. I want to start tonight with what feels might be an important new stage in the war between israel and hamas. Now, we dont want to overstate things. I want to be clear, The Big Picture remains the same. Israel in response to the Terrorist Attack by hamas that killed more than 1000 israeli civilians has continued its air strikes inside the densely populated gaza strip. While theres been so much expectation as to whether israel is going to launch a ground invasion, and when theyre going to do that. In the meantime, they have launched these devastating airstrikes day after day after day, and more than 4000 people in gaza are believed to have been killed since the israeli retaliation for the hamas Terrorist Attacks, which began 17 days ago. Civilians cannot leave gaza still, even including the u. S. Citizens who are among the civilians over there. But the first trickle of aid has been allowed in, a small convoy of aid trucks was allowed in on saturday. And then, another convoy was allowed in on sunday. And then another small convoy was allowed in today. And that is good. That is not enough, but that is something. The aid that has come in thus far does not involve fuel. And while fuel might not seem like the most important thing in supplies, when you are talking about humanitarian aid, the u. N. Is raising urgent concerns about the remaining hospitals inside gaza, and whether they can keep their generators running, to keep electricity inside the hospital, to keep things like ventilators running, and Life Support Machines for people who are previously ill and also for newborn babies. The u. S. Military has moved considerable resources and personnel to the region. There are ongoing worries about the conflict potentially broadening to include other countries, other armed militias in the region. The u. S. Embassies both in iraq and in lebanon have sent out new warnings about the safety of u. S. Citizens and u. S. Diplomatic staff and their families. So, i mean, all that to say, the biggest picture remains as precarious as ever. But there is a tiny little bit of hope on one piece of it tonight. We saw two hostages who had been taken by hamas, and israeli American Mother and daughter get released on friday. Tonight, two more hostages have been released. This is to, frail elderly israeli woman, both israelis, both who have been held by hamas for more than two weeks. Two of them were released tonight. There had been some reports today about the potential release of a much larger group of hostages, maybe four dozen, or more hostages, potentially set to be released in some sort of arrangement. But nbc has not been able to confirm independently any of those reports. There remains just a glimmer for people who are trying to maintain hope so far, only four hostages have been released. Joining us now is nbc news chief Foreign Correspondent which are dangle, live from jerusalem. Richard, thank you so much for being here. I know its the middle of the, night for the morning there, well appreciate it. Translator its always the middle of the night with you, rachel. No matter where you go in the country is always the middle of the night, and its always talking about something when. But, yes, how are you . Its throw. Im okay, richard. Truly, coming up with some of her other beat that you and i covered. And at better times. Richard, let me ask you about the hostage situation. Obviously, everybody is overjoyed to see two hostages released on friday, and see two more released today. There was some reporting today, which nbc has not independently confirmed yet, maybe we should expect additional hostage releases in larger numbers. Whats your understanding of that . And what do we know about these other woman who released today . Reporter so, what we are trying to do is to track these negotiations in realtime through the negotiators. Obviously, the negotiators are working with hamas, working with the israeli authorities. Primarily, we are talking about egyptian and qatari negotiations. And it is a very, very difficult process to follow because obviously for security reasons, they dont want to give away too much. But they are actively trying to tread things. Hamas once certain things. It once, it took more access for humanitarian supplies in the gaza strip. It once wants to engage in a kind of resumption of a peace process, to have a path towards statehood we are hearing more and more from hamas about specific demands. I spoke to a senior hamas leader tonight about these specific issues. And there is hope that there will be mole. And during the day today, i was one of those people who thought, okay, theres gonna be more, there is room, reports of a potentially larger group that could have come out today. But these negotiations dont always go well. And even in these, those two israeli woman eventually released, hamas released them but sort of shook complaints, saying we are releasing them, even though israel violated the terms of our agreement eight different times. And there had been, although we did not notice it, a mini ceasefire, a pause for a few hours today, according to hamas, and another pause. They said it was six hours long in the air strikes on friday. They are negotiating things big and small. Sometimes, it is just a pause for a few hours, or much larger issues about opening access to the gaza strip, potentially prisoner swap, potentially more than that. This could take some time. And every time there is hope, there is a lot of chance that things could go wrong, and there are complications, communications are difficult because a senior hamas leader told me tonight that the hostages are held in different places. Communication from one place to the other is difficult. So, they are facing some logistical challenges just to gather these people and try and free them if they want. Now, hamas could be coming up with excuses. But you said its a glimmer of hope. Yes, at least there is some movement, at least theyre not executing these hostages one every hour, or anything like that. There doesnt seem to be some progress. There are lines of communication to hamas, and there are efforts ongoing by friendly nations to try and secure the release of these people. Richard, it strikes me, incredible thing in its own right that youve been in touch with senior hamas officials about this issue. Do they explain, or do they put it to you in any way that you can convey to us, why they took these hostages . And if they planned from the outset that they would hold these hostages in order to try to extract concessions, ceasefires, or any of the other things that theyre asking for, now as just the first four of them have been let go, it almost feels from some of the reporting that ive seen about their hostage taking, that hamas didnt necessarily know what they were meant to do with the civilian hostages coming up. And let alone, these large numbers, more than 200 of them. Did they give you any sense, any clarity on what their intention was, or what their intentions are in the long run with these people . Reporter my interpretation, and some of this is just my analysis. I have covered this for a long time, covered the middle east, Covered Hamas for many years. I think they go off more than they can show. And what we are seeing in gaza is a result of hamas not realizing how far it was gonna get, how devastating its attack would be, how many people they would take. The group is also hinting at that. There was one statement from their Chief Military Spokesman Abou Obayda who said that they swept up all these foreign nationals by accident, because people were being dragged over the border, they did not have a chance to verify their identities, that is according to them. And they ended up with too many nonisraelis. Even they acknowledge that it was a chaotic time, and they ended up with more people than they wanted. On the other question, what do they want to do with them . They clearly intended to take people. They clearly went into kill people and capture people. But probably not this many and probably not this many foreign nationals, bringing the entire world against them. But what they want is concessions. Every time they have taken people in the past, they have been able to secure the release of prisoners. Many of the top hamas leaders themselves, the inner circle of hamas who are running the group now wore themselves prisoners in israeli jails who were swapped when other members of hamas grabbed an israeli soldier and then demanded, and then part of their demands was a prisoner release. So the top leadership themselves know this process from personal experience. It secured their own relief. So i think at the end, as we get closer, and more and more hostages come out, and hopefully that will happen, and hopefully that will help soon, larger numbers, i think were gonna Start Hearing just demands about more access for humanitarian aid into gaza, more access for fuel and other things. But they will start asking more specifically for the demands of prisoners. And they already said that as well, one of the hamas leaders said, in order to release the soldiers, they make a distinction between the civilians and the soldiers, although here in israel with hamas, its quite difficult because a lot of is real israelis, until quite old, could potentially be reservist in this country. So who gets considered a soldiers a little bit up to how masts interpretation but they have set for the soldiers, not specifying exactly who they consider a soldier. If you are active duty, non active duty, serving in uniform, et cetera, they said they want the release of all palestinian prisoners in israeli jails. And there are thousands of them. Wow. Richard engel, chief Foreign Correspondent for nbc news. This has been a day of real ups and downs, specifically on this issue of the israeli hostages. Thanks for keeping us up to date and keeping us honest, richard, on this. Appreciate you my friend. Weve got much more ahead here tonight. Lots of news going on tonight. Stay with us. Stay with us he hits his mark center stage and is crushed by a baby grand piano. Youre replacing me . Customize and save with liberty bibberty. He doesnt even have a mustache. Only pay for what you need. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Liberty. Youre probably not easily persuaded to switch only pay for what you need. Mobile providers for your business. But what if we told you its possible that comcast Business Mobile can save you up to 75 a year on your wireless bill versus the big three carriers . Have we piqued your interest . You can get two unlimited lines for just 30 each a month. There are no Term Contracts or line activation fees. And you can bring your own device. Oh, and all on the most reliable 5g Mobile Network nationwide. Wireless that works for you. Its not just possible. The power goes out and we still have wifi its happening. To do our homework. 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