. it's good to be back with you in this second hour of "chris jansing reports." we have breaking news, a u.s. official and a diplomat in the region tell nbc news one american could be among the hostages released today. just moments ago, the red cross transported two former captives over the border as urgent talks continue to extend the truce in gaza, possibly by another two days. we're live in tel aviv with the latest. plus, hamas now claiming that three hostages, a ten-month old baby, his 4-year-old brother and their mom will not be coming home, and that all three were killed during the fighting. israel is still looking to confirm that. also ahead, we'll talk to the former director of the cia about the challenges of bringing the remaining hostages home with israel ready to return to combat at any given moment. then later, a set for the angels, the heart wrenching tribute for the young lives cut short at an israeli music festival. so much to get to in this hour, but i want to begin with the breaking news that we could see an american citizen among those released today. that's according to a u.s. official and a diplomat with knowledge of the fast-moving events. nbc news who's correspondent monica alba joins us now. of course, the situation is still fluid. nothing is ever final in these situations, but what more can you tell us? >> reporter: exactly, chris. this is really minute by minute, hour by hour, and this is something that in the last couple of days, we knew was a possibility, but remember that in the last two days of hostage releases, we haven't seen americans in those groups. and we did on sunday see the first american released, that duel israeli and american citizen, just 4 years old, abigail adon, who was reunited with family members after her parents were brutally murdered by hamas on october 7th. that leaves two other american citizens who potentially could be eligible for release. when we discussed the criteria of the current framework, which is women and children. and we know that given the current extension, which is set to expire tonight, though, the u.s. and officials i have been talking to all day say they are hopeful that could be extended. but we know that according to that current agreement, these two american women were the ones who could be a possibility for release. but i'm told by a u.s. official that it looks like today m mayb one of them is included in this group. we won't know that for sure, until she would be potentially handed over to the red cross and crossed over to gaza, again, to get any kind of confirmation, and the biden administration has been very careful here not to get ahead of any of this because of how fluid some of the lists have been. sometimes they have changed. sometimes they have added people, and of course this is really ever evolving as we are counting down the minutes to see whether this current temporary truce is going to be extended again, and then what that could tell us about any potential future release of americans. and when we discuss other kinds of americans who are currently being held, there are still questions about whether they might be held, if they're not being held by hamas and gaza. whether they would be held by other militant groups there, and in terms of whether they are located or how that could work, all of that is still what the negotiators are trying to discuss and find out more about, and then finally, chris, there's really this mad diplomatic dash right now in the region to try to do these things on parallel tracks, to get the truce extended so that more hostages can come out, and more aid can go in. that is what secretary of state blinken, what cia director burns, and what a special envoy for hostage affairs named roger carstens will be doing in the coming days. but again, every minute really counts here, and there is hope among officials i have been talking to that an american could be released from gaza today. everybody, of course, crossing their fingers that that is indeed the case. chris. >> monica, i know you'll keep us posted as you learn more, thank you. i want to go go to nbc's david noriega on the latest, on the hostages we believe will be released. we have new information about those who we know already were taken by the red cross. what can you tell us? >> reporter: yeah, chris, we know that two hostages have been hand or to the red cross. hamas said that it had made the handover, and the idf confirmed that it had that information from hamas as well. it's a little bit unusual because that is only two hostages. every night so far in this temporary truce, we have been seeing the full group of hostages handed over to the red cross, and then to israeli forces in one group. but this is a group of just two hostages who are duel, israeli russian citizens. both of them are women. given that we haven't seen the full group released yet, it's a question of whether this is an exchange happening outside of the framework of the cease fire, and because they are israeli and women they do count toward the cease fire agreement. we are paying attention to when the next group of hostages is released tonight. it's unusual they're being released in more than one group, and we're all paying close attention to the hours between now and midnight when the cease fire is supposed to expire. especially the families of those hostages who are, look, i have been meeting a lot of families of hostages, and a number of them are in a very particular situation. they have some family members who have been released during the cease fire, but they have other family members who are still being held captive in gaza. this is an extremely emotionally complicated situation to be in. i spoke to one of them. his name is yair moses, yesterday. i want to play a little bit of what he had to say. >> for the first two days, we allowed ourselves to be happy and put it on the side, and be happy she is back to us, and we are back to work, making sure we can do whatever we can, like we did before, to make sure people hear us and try to bring him back. this is urgent. >> reporter: yair's mother was released during the first day of the cease fire, but his father is still in gaza. these families and some of their supporters are some of the main people putting pressure on the israeli government to extend the cease fire beyond tonight's deadline to get more hostages out. chris. >> the idf is working to determine whether that absolutely heartbreaking claim by hamas that three hostages, a mother, her 10-month-old baby, and 4-year-old son have died. what more can you tell us about that family and what the idf is trying to learn? >> reporter: yeah, chris, the bibas family, we have seen during the course of this conflict, several hostages at different times become symbols hat's at stake, and i think the bibas family is precisely th family a lot of us are paying attention to as representing everything that's at stake. we're at a cross roads, how many more hostages will be released, when will the fighting resume. hamas has claimed that family died as a result of an israeli air strike. they didn't provide details or to support the claim. the idf is trying to verify whether or not they are alive. the family has put out a couple of releases essentially saying we are waiting to find out. we are waiting to get some kind of confirmation. hopefully refutation about the claim, and in the meantime, trying to lay low, stay quiet, not talking to the press. allowing this to be a private moment. in terms of the way that israeli authorities are talking about this, and you know, those associated with israeli authorities, lieutenant colonel peter learner spoke with msnbc earlier today. he's an ex-spokesperson for the idf, and this is what he had to say. >> we will continue to work in order to verify and clarify exactly what the situation is. we hold hamas accountable for their well being. they are responsible for all of the hostages, every single one. >> a lot of things are very influx right now, chris. the midnight deadline of the cease fire agreement, the question of the bibas family, whether or not they are alive. how many more days we might expect this to last, if any. it's been a fluid moment from the beginning, and it is a particularly fluid moment right now, chris. >> a particular kind of hell they are living through. we'll talk to you in a bit. i want to bring in former cia director, john brennan, also an msnbc senior national security and intelligence analyst, so when we talk about a family who is living in this hell, they believe they've been told, at least for sure, that hamas claims that their family has been killed. idf is trying to verify it. how complicated is what israeli intelligence is trying to do right now? >> i think it's very complicated. first of all, you cannot take hamas at its word. at the same time, seems as though they wanted to convey the message that these three individuals are no longer alive. and so i'm sure that israeli intelligence is trying to determine the bestcan, with limited acc to the hamas network that is holding these hostages, whether or not those hostages are indeed alive. this is continuing to be quite complex. the fact that we have had six days of the truce and six days of the exchanges of hostages for prisoners is a positive and hopeful sign, and hopefully after the release of further hostages today, this truce can be extended and more hostages will get out. >> as monica was just reporting, cia director william burns is in doha amid these ongoing talks, and a senior arab diplomat told nbc news that the expectation is the truce would be extended by two days. what do you expect is happening behind the scenes right now to make that happen? >> as you point out, bill burns is working i know very closely with the qatari officials, as well as the head, this is the intelligence channel where the sensitive discussions, negotiations are going on. clearly it's in hamas's interest to try to extend the truce. they are seeking to be able to benefit somewhat in the pause of the fighting to reposition fighters, move some of their weapons and other types of things. at the same time, the israelis are interested in getting more hostages out. what bill burns is trying to do is to see whether or not there can be some arrangement where this truce is going to be extended, but also to try to get as many hostages out as possible. hamas might raise the stakes when it comes to getting men out, and certainly idf personnel that are in the custody of hamas or any of these other palestinian terrorist groups in gaza. i'm sure that bill burns is doing everything possible to try to facilitate an extension of the truce and the hostage exchange. >> you mentioned the concern that keeps coming up when we talk about this pause, and that is that every day that goes by gives hamas more time to regroup. do you think that as this gets extended day by day, their advantage gets larger and larger or has that been overstated? >> no, i think the israeli defense forces are very concerned that when and if this military operation resumes, and i think it will resume once the truce is over, it's going to be a much more difficult and even dangerous environment for israeli forces inside of gaza. so the fact that the momentum has stalled in terms of the israeli military operation and which has allowed hamas to be able to, again, reequip and to make sure that they're poised as best they can be for the restart of these operations, i do think it's a very legitimate concern on the part of the israeli defense forces, but still, there's overwhelming fire power that the israelis have, and the question in my mind is whether or not the u.s. pressure on israel to try to scale back the scope of these military operations and try to avoid to the greatest extent possible, civilian casualties, that's what i think we will all wait to see once the truce is over. >> i have an update on information we have been reporting about two more hostages that have been released and now the idf have reported they are currently with the hostages with idf special forces and isa forces inside israeli territory. they'll undergo a medical assessment which is what we have seen. they'll continue to be accompanied by idf soldiers, and then they will be reunited with their families. there you see the mother and daughter who are the two we are told have been released. we're also told, we could see the release of a second american hostage possibly today. the biden administration had previously expressed disappointment that only one american, 4-year-old abigail adon had been released so far. now there's word a second could be released today. do you believe hamas is purposely holding american hostages back, and if so, why? >> gives them some additional leverage. i think they want to keep the americans engaged because it's u.s. pressure on israel that is allowing this truce and pause to continue. the release of an additional american hostage today, would be a positive sign and might be a way for hamas to be able to encourage the united states to continue its efforts on this matter. but i do think that hamas is going to try to hold back any american hostages that it still has, idf personnel. again, another question is how many of the remaining hostages are actually under hamas control, and what type of influence does hamas have over the palestine islamic jihad and other groups that may, in fact, be the ones in control of some of these hostages. >> former cia director, john brennan, it's always terrific to have you on the program. thank you. >> thank you. and still ahead, house republicans are demanding to talk to hunter biden, so why are they balking at his offer to testify publicly. we'll explain in 60 seconds. stiy we'll explain in 60 seconds. 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(vo) make the switch. it's your business. it's your verizon. >> tech: cracked windshield on your new car? you don't have to take it to the dealer. bring it to safelite. we do more replacements and recalibrations than anyone else. >> customer: thank you so much. >> tech vo: schedule now. >> singers: ♪ safelite repair, safelite replace ♪ we're following some breaking news off the coast of japan where a u.s. military air craft has crashed with a crew of six on board. nbc's courtney kube joins us with more on that. what do we know about the conditions of those on board, and do we have any information about what happened? >> we have very little information about this crash still at this point. we know a little bit of new information just actually in the last several months. there actually were eight u.s. service members on board this aircraft when it crashed. we've just learned that the number has been going back and forth over the last 12 hours or so since it crashed. u.s. officials are confirming there were eight individuals on board. this was a cv-22, an osprey, a variant flown by the u.s. air force. in this case, it was assigned to an air force special operations command unit, but actually the wing was based at kadina. air force special orientations command is saying it was a routine training event. beyond that, we don't know what they were doing or what happened when it crashed. there were eyewitness accounts of a fire on board. u.s. officials haven't been able to confirm anything like that, chris. >> courtney kube, thank you very much, come back. the standoff continues between house republicans and hunter biden, after his request to testify in public was rejected. oversight committee chair james comer says republicans expect full cooperation on their demand for a deposition in private. but hunter biden's lawyer responded, quote, we have seen you use closed door sessions to manipulate, even distort the facts and misinform the public. we therefore propose opening the door. and the committee's top democrat, congressman james raskin, slammed his gop colleagues for refusing public system saying, quote, what the republicans fear most is sunlight and the truth. carol leonnig is "the washington post" national initiativive reporter, and msnbc contributor. david jolly is an msnbc political analyst. great to see both of you. what are the pros and cons of this for both sides? >> i think what hunter biden and his legal team are pursuing is one of call my bluff, like i'm willing to testify. i want to do it publicly. if you have this desire to share my public truth with the public, then let's do it in public. the danger of course is that something could go wrong this that testimony or an argument could ensue, a very testy exchange that might not be flattering for either side, actually. the danger for the house republicans now is they said they want the answers but they want them on their terms behind closed doors, and this sort of show me kind of letter from hunter biden's lawyer kind of puts them in their place because if they really want the information then they will take it in a public hearing. >> what happens, next, carol? the republicans control the committee, they say no, this is not going to be public. hunter biden doesn't want to do it behind closed doors, so what happens? >> well, ultimately, the committee in its subpoena, it powers are significant. but they're not endless. and any witness is able to negotiate to try to press for the way in which it wants to give its testimony. i remember when secret service agents were being interviewed by the january 6th committee. you know, they had a very strong feeling about the way in which their information would be used and in order to provide it, they negotiated specific terms. there are some sometimes when witnesses before congress try to negotiate that their name will not be shared later about their transcribed interview. obviously that's not going to happen here. i think we're going to see a couple more sort of right and left hooks in this negotiation before it's settled, chris. >> yeah, we'll see if any of the punches land. david, let me go back to the dilemma for hunter biden. on one hand, if he testifies publicly, he avoids committee leaks that he and his lawyers believe could misrepresent his testimony. if this does become a public hearing, republicans can say what they want in lieu of an actual question for a moment played as a sound bite on conservative media. is there just risk for hunter biden in either case? >> i don't think so because hunter biden would tell you everything has already been taken from him. he appears in news by way of scandal every day in conservative media, the "new york post," fox news to elsewhere. i think he's used to it. i don't think he enjoys it. there's probably up side. i mean, the agenda of republicans around hunter biden has never really been about the truth. it's been about politics, and the politics of hunter biden for republicans have been going the wrong way for about six months now as their theory of the case has started to unravel. i think hunter biden is saying, great, let's put the politics out in the open and all of this. let's have a conversation around the truth. everything about me, hunter biden is already known, and i think that's the most important legal point here. for five years, he was under investigation by the department of justice. there's not anything house republicans will find the doj didn't have and if there's any legal tactic at all in this, congressional subpoenas can be referred for criminal prosecution if the person doesn't cooperate. hunter biden cooperated and said, okay, i'll come d it. that makes it harder for hunter biden to face culpability for not cooperating. >> let's talk about the potential political risk to his dad. republicans have had zero success trying to tie the president to his son's problem, producing no proof that