from israel. nbc news confirming that the are closing in on a deal to release some of the hostages. >> i believe that we are closer than we have been in quite some time. maybe closer than we have been since the beginning of this process. we are talking about considerably more than 12, beyond that, i want to see where this goes. i don't want to say anything that would jeopardize the completion of the, deal which is the most important. >> right, now no hostages have been released, and the israeli offensive continuing undeterred with al-shifa hospital caught in the middle. a world health official describing it as a, quote, death knell, rather than a working medical center. the president weighed in on the israel hamas war with the new op-ed this weekend, calling for a two-state solution. laying out his vision for the future of gaza, which puts him at odds with prime minister mention netanyahu. plus, the hearing in donald trump's federal election interference case tomorrow morning will be available for the world to hear. at the court livestreaming arguments on a gag order aimed at keeping the former president quiet. after a week of republicans behaving badly on capitol hill, and going to talk to one rider who is openly wondering what their man are to emotional to lead. all that, and a holiday travel rush. millions are hitting the air inroads in the next two days for thanksgiving, with some tough weather causing extra jitters. a live report on that ahead as well. we want to start that hour with the breaking story. nbc news confirming that a deal could be close to free hostages captured by hamas. a lot unfolding on the ground today, including the arrival of 31 premature babies at the rafah border, after being evacuated from al-shifa hospital. as we, mentioned is now being called a -- by the world health organization. joining me now, foreign correspondent matt bradley. talk us through some of what we just saw. of course, these premature babies that are arriving at the rafah border crossing, it's possible, in the works, hostage deal. where are, we what we know at this hour? all of this transpire in the last 24 hours or so. >> that's right. this last 24 hours, we're hearing the latest, news which is that this deal is down in the details, it could come any day now, any hour now. we have been hearing whispers about this for the last week, the last weekend, and actually, yasmin, we have been hearing about these deals for the last several weeks, and not all of them, most of them, have been worked out. it really does seem, as we just heard from israeli officials, this line is close. what this would mean is something like a could mean dozens of mostly, or entirely, women and children who are now in the custody of hamas, thought to be that tunnel network underneath the gaza strip. they could be released over several, days it seems like five, days and several trenches. they might be, in the washington post, have surveillance, which will make sure that all of this goes through. during those several days of releases, there would be, what we've been hearing a term, a humanitarian pause. this is something we've been hearing from the european union, the biden administration, from the israelis themselves. distinct from a cease-fire. this would be a humanitarian pause, where both sides would lay down their weapons to allow for these hostages to be released. but we haven't heard, yasmin, are the terms that we were hearing last week, for various news sources. saying that this would entail release of prisoners, mostly women and children, on the israeli side. these rallies would open up their prisons to allow mostly civilians to be led out in exchange. it doesn't seem like that kind of tit-for-tat is happening, or simply it hasn't been reported. instead, it's the release of israeli hostages held by hamas, in exchange for a humanitarian pause that could last days. this would be very, very significant. as we've heard from the israelis, we just had, that this would be the largest release of hostages ever, since this crisis began back in october 7th, it could be the largest humanitarian pause that we've seen, again, since the start of this crisis. , now this could come admits other horrific news from the gaza strip. particularly, as you mentioned, from al-shifa hospital. the largest hospital in the gaza strip. we just saw some 31 premature babies evacuated south, in the gaza strip, towards the border with egypt, near the rafah border crossing. at the same, time the united is saying that essentially, this hospital almost no longer functions as a hospital. holden only two dozen, staff and 250 patients. there is a mass grave in the front, according to united nations. bullet holes. it just sounds like a nightmare. yasmin. >> my, gosh you see those images of those babies, not even -- not knowing about the danger that they are. in quickly, if you know this, tell me, if you don't, that's fine as well. do you know these babies were able to travel with their parents, or if they traveled on their own with the medical convoy of some sort? >> that is a very good question. i mean, this is the united nations who were helping to arrange that. i would imagine the parents would've been, there they don't see what that would be an issue, but i haven't seen reporting on that. i will be honest with you, yasmin, i do not know the answer to that question. i wish i did. >> matt bradley for, us thank you, matt. appreciate it. let's go to -- who is standing by for us outside the white house to tell us more about this possible hostage deal. it is been in the making, quite, honestly as matt wachter, through over the last couple of weeks or. so i want to drill down on, this if we can. what is the white house saying about, this and how much have they've been involved in these ongoing negotiations? >> so they have been very involved for weeks and weeks on this, trying to get as many hostages as possible out of gaza, out up the control. as you can imagine, this is not something that the u.s. officials, the administration officials want to go on tv and talk about. they do not want all the progress that has been made to go completely down the drain, because of something that is said on national television. what we do know, now from this interview with jon finer, a deputy of national security advisor earlier, saying that there is conversations happening between the authorities,, israelis and u.s. officials. these conversations are, quote, very close to a deal. we also know that this steele may have involved women in children that are currently being held hostage. as, we know there are at least nine americans, and one -- who are thought to be hostages in gaza. those people, we're not, sure if they're going to be part of the group that is released, that could be released as a part of the steel. here is what john finer had to say. christian walker, earlier today, i meet the press. >> what i can say at this point is that some of the outstanding areas that disagreements, in a very complicated, sensitive negotiation, have been narrowed. i believe we are closer than we have been in quite some time. maybe close than we've been since the beginning of this process, to getting this deal done. we are following this minute by minute, hour by hour, and have been for a number of weeks, up to and including the president, from this major priority, as you just heard. but, at this point, we really need to adhere to the mantra that nothing is agreed until everything is a great. you, know sensitive negotiations like this could fall apart the last minute. >> something john finer didn't answer, which i think is interesting, is whether or not he believes this really is following international law. basically, the rules of the road, as it refers to the war. and what's going on. yasmin. >> thank you, gary. appreciated. coming up, i'm going to speak with former state department official, josh, paul about the presidents op-ed. as well as his own piece in the new york times about his prediction that u.s. military aides would kill civilians and undermine israeli security, leading him to quit his position at the state department. and just 60 seconds, the hearing tomorrow and a donald trump case that will all be able to hear. they will be livestreaming arguments over whether the judge in the d.c. election interference case should put a muzzle on the former president. we'll be right back. ack. ing to rewash dishes that didn't get clean? i don't. cascade platinum plus has me doing dishes... differently. scrub? soak? nope. i just scrape, load and i'm done. only platinum plus is bigger. with double the dawn grease fighting power and double the scrubbing power. for a no rewash clean... and a cabinet ready shine. rewash? not in my house. upgrade to cascade platinum plus. dare to dish differently. ♪ shelves. shelves that know what taste buds want. shelves smart enough to see, sense, react, restock. ♪ so caramel swirl is always there for the taking. all right, less than 24 hours, the federal appeals court is going to hear arguments on donald trump's request to lift a gag order on his federal election interference case. arguments are expected to take about an hour. although the hearing will not be televised, the audio will be livestreamed, up first in the former presidents legal odyssey. trump's lawyer is expected to argue that the gag order violates his first amendment rights. this is what we've heard before. joining me now, msnbc legal analyst and criminal offense to tierney, and nbc news correspondent, ryan reilly. he's also the author of sedition hunters, how january 6th broke the justice system. ryan, start things off for us, if you will, and talk to us about the expectations for tomorrow's hearing. >> yeah, this be broadcast, it could have a potential to change the dynamic of the arguments, of course. the, know this somewhat becomes this public spectacle. donald trump and his lawyers are getting out this message. we've received a lot of that already. this is sort of more politically minded arguments, rather than the legal. once the certainly, this is a quarter certainly is extraordinary in american history. you know, we also have extraordinary set of circumstances going into. it is more limited on what donald trump is specifically restricted from speaking. when mike pence, for example, a when mike pence was still in the, game when he was still running for president, donald trump was allowed to comment on some of the, you, know texas policies, for example. he could not speak specifically about some of the particular details of january six. given, that mike pence was a key witness in this, in this case. in fact, has testified before a grand jury before trump was indicted. i think we can expect to see a little bit of a spectacle, here perhaps some arguments that this move by jack smith, that this order was essentially ordered by the biden campaign. of, course there's no evidence that. that i think that's what we can expect to see here in the arguments. >> danny, talk us through, if he will, the expectations of what will happen here, are considering what has already happened. if we look at the new york civil fraud trial, there was this pause on the gag order because of the attacks on the court clerk. that pause was put into place, and immediately, the former president went after the clerk yet again. do you think that that will get, be considered with this hearing tomorrow? >> this is a tale of two gag order, isn't even, so it is also the tale of two court systems. this is a really educating khorasan the difference between state first medians, in federal court proceedings. that is why, i think, if trump's team prevails on this gag order, they're more likely to win a new york states. that is because, just look at how that gag order was initially put into place. justice and foreign basically announced from the bench, in the contours of the order of, you can't talk about this staffed, that's the kind of thing that could get overturned by an appeals court judge. on the other hand, look at the federal system. a d.c. case, you have a citation. that is an order that is more likely to survive. at its core, they may not exist a gag order for a presidential candidates that all reasonable, legal, and non legal minds, can agree upon. one person is in clear and present danger may not be another is clear and present danger. if this case makes it up to the supreme court, you might just assume that this is a court that might leave a little one way, more than the other. >> what are you going to be listening for, considering that we're going to be hearing audio throughout this hearing? >> the test. that it will ultimately apply. the defense urges what is a clear and present danger. their arguments are essentially that any kind of content based restriction on speech, like this, is also a form of prior restraint. and other, words preventing someone from speaking before they even speak. those, they argue, are unconstitutional. therefore, the strictest standard applies. usually, when the strictest ended applies, whatever the government action is, it's unconstitutional. that is going to be at the court the argument tomorrow. >> the i want to talk georgia election fraud case for a second, danny, as well. fani willis is proposing the start date for the trial for the former presidents. she is also said that this thing is gng to go on for a long time. what are your expectations on this august 5th start date, considering, if it were to begin then, it would go and beyond the election? >> >> if if this is for me, danny i would consistently say that it's this case will not go to trial until 2025. hoping no one is -- because they may be wrong. i have a truck, i'm using a bit of a flimflam. here i say the first witness will not be called in georgia until 2025. that is based on the eighth month of jury selection, and a much lesser-known case in the same fulton county, eight months, maybe more, to select a jury. not the prosecution's chief, a jury selection. first witnesses not getting called in fulton county until at least 2025. >> ryan, i know you have some new reporting, except from donald trump, on a tenuous six rioter, who republican senator mike lee of utah suggested was a federal agent. what more do you know on this? >> the house speaker ordered a bunch of this video released. and what we've seen so far as a lot of propaganda, essentially, trying to reduce the severity of what happened on january six. and one of these videos promoted by mike lee, suggesting this guy very quickly as he left the capitol, was some sort of federal agent. i covered this case. i was at a sentencing in fact a few months ago. and that individual, kevin lines, not a federal agent. he is a trump supporter who called himself an idiot during his since sentencing hearing, confessed to stealing a wallet from pelosi's office, a portrait of john lewis and nancy pelosi together from nancy pelosi's office. and he was ultimately sentenced to more than four years in federal prison. and he is currently serving that time and he will not get out until 2027. and you have to look back at what the reason was. while transparency is quick and while nbc is part of a coalition to try and get more of these videos from january six, what was the reason that a lot of these, that lead this house speaker to put this video out there. and the reason was is because they're trying to delegitimized the narrative about what happened on january six. and reduce the reality of what actually happened, the violence that we saw that day and trying to introduce these more common narratives about that day. and so, it's one of those moments that's very interesting and that, you know, someone putting out more misinformation, and we've seen a lot of this continue on platforms, formerly known as twitter, especially under elon musk's ownership. >> and who in fact continue to storm the capitol, which was the former president's supporters on that day. ryan riley, thank you. danny cevallos, thank you as well. tune in tomorrow for our special coverage now -- starting at 9:30 am eastern, only on msnbc. and coming up, from an elbow to the back to name-calling and threatening a fistfight, republican men in congress led their feelings to get the best of them, leading one journalist to ask, our man just too emotional to lead? plus the 2024 polling out today showing trump's chances of retaking the white house. first, the trouble he may face if he's planning to travel for thanksgiving. ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ >> hey, everyone. >> sorry, i'm late. i had to beat an old lady with a stick to get this -- ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ ♪ my frequent heartburn had me taking antacid after antacid all day long but with prilosec otc just one pill a day blocks heartburn for a full 24 hours. for one and done heartburn relief, prilosec otc. one pill a day, 24 hours, zero heartburn. woman: who's that, who is that? cole: this is my puppy! woman: cancer. it's different in a child. because your child is still growing. charlie: i had 14 rounds of chemo. there's thousands and thousands of kids all over the world who need help. girl: it is my first time having cancer. and it's the very worst. spokesman: saint jude children's research hospital works day after day to find cures and save the lives of children with cancer and other life threatening diseases. woman: it's scary to watch your kid battle and fight for their lives. spokesman: 1 in 5 children diagnosed with cancer in the us will not survive. woman: childhood cancer is hard. it's a long road. you just have to give. you have to give someone that hope. and especially with them being so young. spokesman: please, call, go on line, or scan the qr code for only $19 a month. families never receive a bill from saint jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food, so they can focus on helping their child live. man: she grew up in this. so when we go to st. jude, she's happy, because that's her home. every time i take her to the doctor, she's excited because she gets to play. and that's all because of saint jude. spokesman: when you call or go online with your credit or debit card right now, we'll send you this saint jude t-shirt you can wear to show your support to help saint jude save the lives of these children. woman: [non-english speech] spokesman: let's cure childhood cancer together. >> welcome back. the thanksgiving travel rush, officially on. it is expected to be a record breaker where nearly half of americans plan to travel between thanksgiving and mid january, up from 31% last winter, according to recent the lloyd survey. joining me, nbc's reporter from philadelphia international airport turned to talk more about this. i am traveling tomorrow morning, george, with my family. i don't often do that for thanksgiving. but we are doing it this year. so, what can we all expect, that are gonna be braving the air? >> reporter: yes. the good news is the weather forecast is looking pretty good for travelers. i feel it's one of the first concerns when it comes to travel. things according to flightaware, the map that we can see, not a lot of flight delays and cancellations. at least not like we saw at this time last year. and the advantage here, there's been a lot of people getting a head start on their holiday travels, thanks in part that so many people are able to work remotely. still, though, the tsa is expecting to screen more than two and a half million passengers daily starting this week. but because of that rush of people, getting that head start, overall, this whole travel window, there are screenings of up to 30 million, the busiest time of travel was going to be the sunday aftere we are looking at about 2.9 that are gointo be screened. the other storyhere, yasmin, is pre-check, which i hope you have. that's gonna get you through fairly quickly. here at philadelphia international, for instance, your pre-checked line is about 3 to 5 minutes. and it's about 12 minutes now for general boarding, which is still not back. but you know those numbers are going to get up as we get closer and closer to thanksgiving, especially the wednesday right before. we know that is going to be a very, very busy travel period. so, travelers at the airport, some of them saying, look, we're not gonna travel on thanksgiving. we are getting that head start now. and they have plenty to be thankful for. take a listen. >> i am thankful to live in a place that even though you have so many problems and issues, you still have the freedom to be able to travel, you know, as a black woman in america still feeling safe. you know, and to be able to work and to be able to afford travel, some people can't do that, you know? so, i'm just thankful just to have life. and i'm thankful for my children. >> reporter: obviously, big picture there, a lot to be thankful for. i wish you safe travels. i hope you do have a good pre-check. and i hope that you make it in and out of your airport in a timely manner. >> she has got, that woman has a good message to spread, to say the least. i will say, i do have pre-check. however, oftentimes, i have looked that pre-check line, and regular security looks faster than pre-check, although we will be taking that. hopefully it will be that 3 to 5 minute wait. george solis, for us, thank you, george. appreciate it. we are continuing to follow the negotiations between israel and hamas where release of some hostages and a pause in the fighting. they're also saying, they're closing in on a deal but nothing has been finalized. more on, that had. up next, though, new research shattering the republican blaine's claims of an invasion at our southern border. we'll be right back. ♪ ♪ ♪ try nervive nerve relief from the world's number one nerve care company. nervive contains ala to relieve nerve aches, and b-complex vitamins to fortify healthy nerves. try nervive. and, try nervive pain relieving roll-on. ♪ we're building a better postal service. with easy, more affordable ways to ship. so you can deliver even more holiday joy. the united states postal service. delivering for america. >> welcome back. new numbers out today from nbc news from the 24 election. it shows former president trump has taken a two point lead over biden, head to head matchup. that is within the margin of error. then uses coming as trump just stepped off stage after giving remarks during a visit to the southern border, where he also just got an endorsement from texas governor greg abbott. nbc news campaign trailer -- in texas. also with me is a columnist and host of the podcast in the thick. welcome to you both. jake, let me start with you. trump has made a lot of big promises about the border. how are voters down there reacting to it? ♪ ♪ ♪ >> yeah, yasmin, former president donald trump is back at the border for the first time in over two years. he was joined this time by texas governor greg abbott who was despite his longtime relationship with the florida governor, just endorsed trump onstage a few moments ago behind me. that you served meals to the military and then came on stage, using this as an opportunity to capitalize on biden's unpopular handling of the border, and also saying in trump's words, what he plans to do, the largest deportation operation in american history. now, the border is trump's bread and butter, right? we know this. heat in 2016, he made it an issue, bringing it to the top of the parties platform. but promises made are not always promises that are kept. trump said in 2016 he will build 1000 mile border wall. the closer number is actually more 450 mile border wall that he actually built. that was actually just reinforcement. only 47 miles of new wall was actually added. trump was also very famously saying, mexico would pay for the wall. we know that u.s. taxpayers are the ones that actually bear the brunt of that cost. despite all of that, i have spoken with trump supporters here in edinburgh, texas, this border community. and they say they felt more secure, more safe under a trump presidency at the border. take a listen. >> i feel that we --, they all make promises, republican, democrat, or independent. they all make promises, right? i feel that was more of him wanting to take care of the issue than what they are doing now. >> and in light of all of that, we know now that this and you and we see polling out for the first time, sewing biden trailing trump, specifically, the young age group, age 18 to 34, now flipping for trump. it is still early. but this is different than what we've seen in previous election results. and there is room for biden to certainly grow in the upcoming here in this election. yasmin? >> jake trader for us, thank you, jake. appreciate it. julio, let's talk about what some you've written on the southern border. republicans have been using this as an issue. but what they are talking about is not necessarily accurate. i want to read some of what you wrote, because it stood out to me. you talk first about according to the pew research center, the country's unauthorized immianpopulation peaked at 12.2 million in 20, 2007, that is when george w. bush was president. and that population has been steadily decreasing since then. you go on to s that their pew report found that the unauthorized immigrant population in the u.s. stood at 10.5 million in 2021, a 14% decrease from what it was back in 2007, which was not necessarily in line with, or lining up with a narrative that the republican party is putting out there when it comes to immigration especially at the southern border. >> correct. and part of why i wrote the piece for msnbc's the narrative needs to change. in the sense that what people are sort of conflating, right? you have to conflate what's happening with the record apprehensions and removals that have been happening over the last couple of years with the actual population. that has been around here for 30 years, right? and these are people that are backing up american society, they pay taxes. it's a small percentage of the overall american population. and by establishing this fabric of society, you start to begin to look at sort of other narratives that aren't being discussed in international discourse, right? so, the biggest problem i have with the current quote unquote border crisis, and you see trump, and you see abbott, and you see, that, you know, that type of alliance doesn't surprise me because you have decades and decades of othering people that are coming to this country. it's a great american tradition to other everyone, right? and this is where we are right now. but what i'm arguing in the piece is the sense that democrats aren't offering a radical alternative to what abbott and trump are saying. >> they're not offering a radical alternative to what republican, what former president trump is saying, offering rates, detention camps, ending birthright citizenship. what did that alternative be than, from your estimation, when it comes to democrats talking about the southern border and undocumented immigrants entering the country? >> first of all, what you just said there, yasmin, should scare every american, right? when you are thinking of mass deportations of millions of people, imagine those images, right? but at the same time, you know, there was a rally in d.c. this week that i wrote about and i actually quoted representative julie garcia who was a democrat of illinois about temporary protective status, where you actually have people that have been in this country, who contributed to the society, but you still cannot work legally in this country. what has happened with the democratic party, especially with the biden administration, and he just had a readout with the president of mexico. it said you are starting to see the administration talking like republicans when in fact, when you look at what latino political power can be in the sense of, you now have a new group of people, these new citizens, that pew report talked about, 50%, you know, 50% of the population are naturalized citizens. so why are we not hearing more of the humanization of this undocumented population? why does it always have to be, they are criminals, they are invading, they are quote unquote terrorists? i argue there's another alternative and this country needs to dive into that other alternative, or else we're never gonna solve this problem. >> i want to read some other numbers here, as i leave, folks, because it was incredibly troubling to me some of these numbers, i have really seven never seen before -- you share that from this october survey taken. finding that 73% of publicans who believe that, quote, amic culture and way of life has mostly changed for the worse since the 1950s. only 30% of democrats feel the same way. it's the same survey that found a third of republicans, quote, believe that true american patriots may have to resort to violence, to save the country. in 2021, people showing clear partisan lines between conservative republicans, 38%. u can see that decrease in a -- get this -- white majority to be bad for the country and democrats at 38% to see it a good thing. i'll leave it at that. julio ricardo varela, thank you so much. appreciate it. still ahead, everybody, the threat of third party candidates to disrupt a trump biden rematch. after the break, a former state department -- state department employee, i should say, who quit over concerns about how u.s. military aid is being used in its offensive in gaza. josh paul joins me live next. ♪ ♪ ♪ gaza josh paul joins >> hey, there. i'm ayman mohyeldin. tonight at nine eastern, i'm gonna speak with a ranking member of the house budget committee, brendan boyle. and how democrats once again saved republicans from a government shutdown. and senator chris van hollen will join me as pressure grows on president biden to call for a cease-fire in gaza. and that is tonight, nine eastern, right here on msnbc. ♪ ♪ ♪ msnbc ♪ ♪ ♪ j.p. morgan wealth management knows it's easy to get lost in investment research. get help with j.p morgan personal advisors. hey, david! ready to get started? work with advisors who create a plan with you, and help you find the right investments. so great getting to know you, let's take a look at your new investment plan. ok, great! this should have you moving in the right direction. thanks jen. get ongoing advice; and manage your investments in the chase mobile app. i'm barbara and i'm from st. joseph, michigan. i'm a retired school librarian. i'm also a library board trustee, a mother of two, and a grandmother of two. basically, i thought that my memory wasn't as good as it had been. i needed all the help i could get. i saw the commercials for prevagen. i started taking it. and it helped! i noticed my memory was better. there was definite improvement. i've been taking prevagen for a little over five years. prevagen. at stores everywhere without a prescription. (bridget) with thyroid eye disease i hid from the camera. i've been taking prevagen for a little over five years. and i wanted to hide from the world. for years, i thought my t.e.d. was beyond help... but then i asked my doctor about tepezza. (vo) tepezza is the only medicine that treats t.e.d. at the source not just the symptoms. in a clinical study more than 8 out of 10 patients taking tepezza had less eye bulging. tepezza is an infusion and may cause infusion reactions. tell your doctor right away if you experience high blood pressure, fast heartbeat, shortness of breath or muscle pain. before treatment, tell your doctor if you have diabetes, ibd, or are pregnant, or planning to become pregnant. tepezza may raise blood sugar and may worsen ibd. tepezza may cause severe hearing problems which may be permanent. (bridget) now, i'm ready to be seen again. (vo) visit mytepezza.com to find a ted eye specialist and to see bridget's before and after photos. diabetes can serve up a lot of questions, like, "what is your glucose?" and "can you have more carbs?" before you decide... with the freestyle libre 2 system know your glucose level and where it's headed. no fingersticks needed. manage your diabetes with more confidence. and lower your a1c. the number one doctor prescribed cgm. freestyle libre 2. try it for free at freestylelibre.us [music playing] subject 1: cancer is a long journey. it's overwhelming, but you just have to put your mind to it and fight. subject 2: it doesn't feel good because you can't play outside with other children. subject 3: as a parent, it is your job to protect your family. but here is something that i cannot do. i cannot fix this. i don't know if my daughter is going to be able to walk. i don't know if she's going to make it till tomorrow. [music playing] interviewer: you can join the battle to save lives by supporting st. jude children's research hospital. families never receive a bill from st. jude for treatment, travel, housing, or food so they can focus on helping their child live. subject 4: childhood cancer, there's no escaping it. but st. jude is doing the work, continually researching towards cures, giving more than just my child a chance at life. interviewer: please, call or go online right now and become a st. jude partner in hope for only $19 a month. subject 5: those donations really matter because we're not going to give up. and when you see other people not giving up on your child, it makes all the difference in the world. interviewer: when you call or go online with your credit or debit card right now, we'll send you this st. jude t-shirt. you can wear to show your support to help st. jude save the lives of these children. subject 6: st. jude is hope. even today after losing a child, it's still about the hope of tomorrow, because. childhood cancer has to end. interviewer: please, call or go online right now. [music playing] >> ♪ ♪ ♪ we are following a breaking story. israeli defense forces have released new footage of what they say is proof of a hamas tunnel near the al-shifa hospital. that new video has not been independently verified. but israeli forces say it is 55 meters long and ten meters deep underneath the al-shifa hospital complex. they also say the tunnel shaft was discovered underneath a shed alongside a vehicle containing numerous weapons. we're gonna have much more on this developing story at the top of our next hour. again, this is -- hasn't been verified by nbc news. we're also continuing to monitor for any news about the potential release of hostages held by hamas. nbc news conference that a deal to do so is close, not yet finalized, though. here in the u.s., so many people do not approve of how this war is being handled by the president in the biden administration. one u.s. official opposed that he resigned his post at the state department and wrote e following quote, i knew u.s. military aid would kill civilians and undermine israeli security, so i quit. and that former official joins me now. josh ball, taking part in the affairs bureau which oversees u.s. arms transfers. josh, thanks for joining us on this. appreciate it. before we get to the piece she wrote for the times and what your proposal should be, the future going for ferguson specifically, talk to me about your reaction to a possible deal in the works for the release of hostages and a longer pause in fighting if they're able to work it out. >> i think that that would be good news. i think the release of hostages should have been a priority since day one for both the netanyahu government and our administration. i also think that a stop to the bombing of civilians should also be a priority. i think both of our priorities, and the latter is being conducted with u.s. weapons, so it should be even more so for us. i am glad to see both of those beginning to look like they might be able to move forward. >> okay, so i want to go through this new york times piece. i urge everyone, if they have an opportunity, to read this piece. it's really incredible and has a lot of good nuggets especially if you're thinking about what the future might look like for gaza. the title of your piece, josh, i knew u.s. military aid would kill civilians and undermine israeli security, uit -- i want to read a portion of this. under the leahy laws, the u.s. prohibited from providing security assistance any unit that is credib aused of having committed a gross violation of human rights. unlike almost all of the recipients, which are vetted along these lines before they receive -- the assi is provided and the u.s. then waits to recei reports of violations assessing their credibility through a process known as the israel leahy eventing forum which includes consultation with the government of israel. tell us more about that process, josh, and why it is that israel gets the exception when it comes to continued military aid. >> yeah, i mean, it's a pretty unique system. when you think about it, we have officials, including the vice president, including the secretary of defense, saying that israel should not be conditioned. it's not only condition by our own rules when we choose to follow them. leigh he is one example of several policies which showed, theoretically, restrict the provision of u.s. arms to governments which have records of violations of human rights to conditions where we know that many civilians are going to be killed through the provision of u.s. arms, yet these discussions, these policies are just being set aside to continue to throw the flow of arms. >> one thing i was trying to drill down on in your piece, josh, are you arguing that the u.s. should suspend providing military aid to israel or do they continue to provide military aid with, you know, with demands, essentially? okay, we will provide this aid for you if you do this, if you act in this way. >> first of all, there are different types of military aid. the's provides an anti-rocket system to israel. i think israelis should be able to live safely in their houses without fear of bombardment. palestinians should also be able to live in their houses without fear bombardment. my concern here is about legal assistance. it's not just that we are providing answers. we are doing so for free. we are providing them with billions of dollars of taxpayer funded arms. these really government is free to use this funding not only an arms, but it's for the defense industry as well. it gives us leverage which, if we are willing to use it, we could really help the israelis set up a better part there that leads to these. i don't see any signs that they are willing to actually do that. >> benjamin netanyahu has said there is going to be indefinite security control of gaza. the president put out an op-ed in the washington post saying he essentially wants a two state solution and he wants the palestinian authority to have governance over gaza. i want to read for folks what you wrote about what the future of gaza should look like. another thing the u.s. might do is consider to reframe -- to reinforce rather than undermine the legitimacy of the palestinian authority. doing so would require structuring assistance in a way that enables palestinians society control over its own security forces. this would also, josh, require, obviously, the israeli government to approve of a plan like that. >> yes, it would. in the most recent phases, it's been characterized by two things, by israeli intelligence failures and by u.s. policy failures. the consequences for both of those are paid out on the palestinian people, on the civilians. if we are going to get this right, if we are going to move into a better place, we need to take an approach which puts civilians first. as we were just discussing, for israel, that means conditioning our systems to help israel move into a better place. for the palestinians, that means providing security assistance. when i was working in the west wing for over a year, our assistance was essentially modified israelis. it did not convince the israelis, nor did convince the palestinians. we need to take a significant look at both of these aspects with a humanitarian focus. >> josh paul, thank you so much, sir. we appreciate it. >> thank you. >> coming up, everybody, our men to emotional to lead? that conversation is next. on talo lead that conversation is next. that conversation is next. —center stage—and is crushed by a baby grand piano. you're replacing me? customize and save with liberty bibberty. he doesn't even have a mustache. only pay for what you need. ♪ liberty. liberty. liberty. liberty. ♪ the subway series? it's the perfect menu lineup. just give us a number, we got the rest. number three? the monster. six? the boss. fifteen? titan turkey. number one? the philly. oh, yeah, you probably don't want that one. look, i'm not in charge of naming the subs. the virus that causes shingles is sleeping... in 99% of people over 50. it's lying dormant, waiting... and could reactivate. shingles strikes as a painful, blistering rash that can last for weeks. and it could wake at any time. think you're not at risk for shingles? it's time to wake up. because shingles could wake up in you. if you're over 50, talk to your doctor or pharmacist about shingles prevention. (christina) with verizon business unlimited, i get 5g, truly unlimited data, and unlimited hotspot data.to your doctor or pharmacist so, no matter what, i'm running this kitchen. (vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon. (christmas music) ( ♪♪ ) weathertech gift cards have the power to wow everyone on your holiday list. offering a variety of american made products... weathertech! nice! like floorliners... cargo liner... seat protector... boot tray... cupfone... sink mat... pet feeding system... anti-fatigue comfortmat...and more. order the weathertech gift card instantly for the perfect gift at weathertech.com. ♪ i wanna hold you forever ♪ hey little bear bear. ♪ ♪ ♪ i'm gonna love you forever ♪ ♪ ♪ c'mon, bear. ♪ ♪ ♪ you don't...you don't have to worry... ♪ ♪ be by your side... i'll be there... ♪ ♪ with my arms wrapped around... ♪ >> welcome back. this week, tensions among house republicans boiled over on more than one occasion with three different altercations on tuesday alone. it started with a hallway running between former speaker kevin mccarthy and colleague tim burchett. well tim was speaking to reporters -- >> sorry, kevin, didn't meet elbow. why did you elbow me in the back, kevin? kevin, you've got any guts? jerk. why did you walk by me an elbow n the back? >> i didn't. >> the reporter said it right there. what kind of chicken movies that? your pathetic, man. you are so pathetic. >> just a reminder, burkett voted to expel mccarthy. in a hearing that same day, james comer, chair of the house oversight committee, got into a tense exchange with democratic representative jared moskowitz. >> you all continue -- you look like a smurf here going around in all the stuff. >> mister chairman -- hold on -- if we are not on time -- >> you can continue to dispute this information -- >> over in the senate, a hearing almost came to blows after markwayne mullin challenge the president of the international brotherhood of teamsters to a fight. >> do you want to do it now? >> i would love to do it right now. >> stand up. >> -- [inaudible] >> you are a united states senator. >> you are an embarrassment. >> it's all caused one reporter to beg the question, are men too emotional to leave? the author of that piece, danielle capital more, joins us to talk about this. it was quite a week for republicans. i'm happy that you are joining me on this, a really interesting piece that you wrote. why do you think this is bubbling up especially amongst republican men? >> well, one, thank you so much for having me. number two, i think perhaps a better question is why it continues to happen with republican men. i mean, i saw all of this unfold over the weekend. what i really thought about was justice kavanaugh and those proceedings, that hearing where you had christine blazingly forward cool, calm, collected retelling a very traumatic event which had allegedly occurred, and then you had a grown man throwing a temper tantrum which rivals that of my four-year-old. this has been a continued pattern within men, republican men in particular, yet it is still women, democratic women in particular, who are continuing to be asked if they are too emotional or if they are going to be run by their emotions, led by their emotions, they're not going to be thoughtful, just going to be hysterical. it is a tale as old as time but it is certainly unfortunately not changing anytime soon despite the fact it is men who are losing their collective you know what in congress rather than the women. >> i am glad you are talking about the women. you actually cite a really important study that i want to read for folks from 2019 from georgetown university. one in eight americans, about 12%, still think women are quote unquote less emotionally suited to run for political office. a recent study found 58% of respondents think showing emotion hurts a woman's chances of getting elected compared to 33% for men. nely the same percentage, you think it would actually help men to show more emotion. this narrative still exists in which people think that women are too emotional to hold office. why is that, especially with what we are seeing? >> sexism reigns supreme. we are in a patriarchal society. we've seen that within the democratic party where you had someone like hillary clinton running for president twice. her emotions were called into question multiple times over. he speaks about the losses that he has had in his life. that's a net positive for him. he really defies partisanship. it at its basic form, a woman's emotional before she is logical, a man is logical before he is emotional. if he can show both, that's one that -- we are seeing that play out despite the fact the men are ready to throw fists in congress. we are going to have to talk about how women may or may not be too emotional to be in positions of power. >> you actually write that the former president might be the best example of these overly emotional men who are serving in public office. >> absolutely. he cited an insurrection because they don't get participation trophies for losing a presidency. he sends unhinged social media posts all day every day as if it is his full-time job. he cites rhetoric from past dictators. he has always been someone who is off the cuff run by his emotions, little to no intelligence is behind the wheel there. he will be the front runner for the gop and the likely nominee for president candidate. here we are again. we are probably going to have to talk again about how many other women would not be able to be on the ballot, yet we have this man who is the equivalent of a temper throwing two year old on the proverbial red button again. >> one more thing, danielle, real quick here, one in four u.s. adults think it is extremely or very likely that they are going to see a woman become president in their lifetime. that in and of itself is incredibly disappointing considering we have a president right now who is a woman and former secretary of state hillary clinton is running for president back in 2016. >> it is. it is disheartening. i do find hope that we have a vice president and a woman of color, that we have more women in congress than ever before. so many women are being galvanized to run in