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? 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>> 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 ins