without their loved ones? dozens of israeli and palestinian families holding their collective breaths, waiting to see if a deal to release 200 hostages and prisoners will actually happen, and if their family members will be among those coming home. in just a few minutes, i'll talk to one woman whose three relatives were kidnapped including 12 and 16-year-old siblings. and we could get brand new details on how all of this will unfold when israeli prime minister netanyahu holds a press conference just a little over an hour from now. here in the u.s., anyone planning to travel today for thanksgiving will have plenty of company. 2.7 million americans expected to fly today alone. an estimated 49 million hitting the rough roads through the weekend. the good news, the storms that made things so messy earlier this week are mostly gone. we'll have the latest coming up. and the more trump the better? an emerging democratic political strategy that puts the former president front and center, the goal as one political activist says, to remind people of what a total and absolute disaster trump was. is that really democrats' best shot to win? so lots to get to, but we begin with the growing anticipation that hostages could start returning home as soon as tomorrow. that's according to israeli officials, and national security adviser jake sullivan now says at least three of them are likely to be americans. they are among at least 50 women and children currently being held in gaza, expected to be freed after israel and hamas agreed to a deal negotiated by the u.s., egypt, and qatar. it will also include the release of 150 palestinians from israeli jails. now, the logistics are sure to be a high wire act. one critical component is the four-day pause in fighting that a senior hamas official says is set to begin tomorrow, 10:00 a.m. local time, which is 3:00 a.m. eastern. that will be a serious test in trust. the deal also includes an option to extend the pause in fighting in exchange for ten israeli hostages today and a proportionate release of palestinian women and children. again, all of that according to an israeli official. so far now, families and friends are filled with hope and fear as the agonizing wait to see if their loved ones are among those released continues. >> it's a moment i see them and hug them, then i know that my nightmare is finished. until then, everything's open. it's very delicate and fragile. >> are you able to in your heart, are you able to allow yourself ethiopia at this stage? >> yes, yes, of course, that's what i got. hope. >> have you allowed yourself to think about what you might say to her the first time you see her? >> i don't think i will speak. i will just hold her and hug her. >> nbc's raf sanchez has more for us from tel aviv. raf, a mother of one of the hostages said it feels like russian roulette to her. do we have any idea of when we could see the first hostages move or what these four days could realistically look like? >> reporter: so chris, here's our understanding of the time line right now. both hamas and an israeli official i spoke to little while ago say the plan is for the cease fire to go into effect 10:00 a.m. local time, 3:00 a.m. eastern tomorrow. we expect at that point the guns to go silent and critically for israeli drones to stop flying overhead in gaza for a number of hours. at that point hamas fighters, officials, leaders will begin moving around and gathering these hostages, we think 10 or 12, slated for release tomorrow. after that, we expect them to be handed over to the international committee of the red cross. they will either go straight to the israel-gaza border, or they will go south to the rafah crossing with egypt, into egypt, and then they will be handed over to israeli officials. we have seen both of those models used when those four hostages were released earlier on several weeks ago. but as you saw, chris, the families of these hostages still do not know whether it is their loved ones who are coming out tomorrow. we spoke a little earlier today to a grandfather. his name is gilad. two of his grandchildren, including his 3-year-old granddaughter, are being held in gaza right now, and he told us that until he has them in his arms, this nightmare is not over. take a listen. >> i saw him here, i see him here in house, then i will believe it. i don't believe nothing yet. >> if you could speak to your family now, what would you tell them? >> that i promise that i do anything to release them. >> reporter: and chris, just agony for that grandfather, agony for so, so many families in israel, in the united states, around the world. chris, i can tell you that the israeli government has drawn up incredibly detailed guidelines about how to handle these children when they emerge from gaza. remember, we believe that they have been held in tunnels for most, if not all of the 47 days that they have been held hostage. they may not have seen sunlight. they may have seen and experienced terrible things. so beyond just the medical care that they need, the israeli government is telling israeli soldiers when they first encounter the hostages, these children, don't pick them up without permission. you don't know what they've been through. they have been forced to do things. don't pick then u. they're saying limit the number of visitors. you can imagine the entire family is going to want to hug, to be around these kids when they are free. you have to limit the number of visitors. don't over stimulate them, and finally, these israeli soldiers have been instructed, if the kids ask questions about their parents, don't answer them. say you don't know. it's not for you to give answers. and chris, that is going to be especially relevant in the case of abigail, that 3-year-old american toddler. she turns 4 on friday. she may very well have questions about her parents, and her parents were both murdered on october 7th. it's not clear whether she knows that or not. chris. >> unspeakable horror, raf sanchez, thank you for that. i want to bring in nbc senior white house correspondent kelly o'donnell. now, president biden called this deal a testament to tireless diplomacy. having said that, how confident are u.s. officials that this -- at least the first part of this deal will come off smoothly? >>. >> reporter: well, chris, that's a real challenge at this point because what it took to get to this point, an agreement that was supported by the israeli, that was brokered in large part with the help of the qataris and with influence from the american president, to get to this point was so difficult. and now the reality is kind of a reset of the clock, with everything that you and raf have laid out about how there will be points along the way here where it could simply fall apart, where there could be a resurgence of violence, which is not supposed to be what's happening, and so there is real risk. and the moving of the hostages who will be designated as a part of this needs to take place, and then the release over time. so getting to a deal seemed like an end, but it actually just begins a new phase of this. earlier today, the national security adviser jake sullivan talked about the pressure that's now on hamas, now that they have agreed to this and the steps that are coming. >> really now, the ball is in hamas's court. israel has said that it will continue a cease fire day by day as long as hamas continues to release hostages. so if hamas has any care or concern for continuing a pause in the hostilities, and frankly, any sense of responsibility, it will continue to release hostages and this pause can continue day by day as hostages come out, that would be the best possible outcome. it's an outcome the united states government, president biden have advocated for. >> reporter: and the president is here on nantucket with his family for the thanksgiving holiday, and certainly grateful for the progress that has been made. we do not expect to see or hear from him today beyond the fulsome statement that he put out in writing. and of course part of that is the sort of unsettled time we are in, wanting to hold the deal, to make certain it goes forward, not wanting to tip by saying too much publicly. that's the guidance we've been given by officials, and certainly the president has more work to do because the best expectation we have at this point is that the deal includes three americans. there are roughly nine americans as best as the u.s. has been able to assess, who are in hamas custody or in gaza in the hands of captors, and of course the president is also deeply involved in trying to assist in ways he can for the israelis and other nationals who are a part of this or swept up on october 7th and taken to gaza. so a lot more work to do. there is certainly a sense that this is in a positive place now, but it's fragile. certainly fragile, chris. >> kelly o'donnell, thank you. i want to bring in dennis ross, he's the counselor for the washington institute for neri's policy, and msnbc senior director for the central region. also with me, senior analyst at the times of israel, ha vooef gur. thank you both for being here. dennis, now that this deal is in place, give us insights based on your experience. what are both sides likely doing now, right now behind the scenes? >> oh, i think they're preparing for what's going to happen tomorrow. it is fair to describe this as fragile, but it's also in each side's interests to see it happen. interestingly enough, it's probably in hamas's interest even more than israel's. it gives them a respite. they're going to get palestinian prisoners released as part of this. palestinian prisoners are having iconic status among palestinians. this will be something that will look like a game for hamas. they have every incentive to carry it out, and i expect that they will. but look, these arehe kind of things that they're never done until they're actually done. >> and haviv, i want to play a bit more of what one mother told our keir simmons. take a listen. >> all i know is that the israeli government have to bring everybody back home, everybody. not to leave anyone behind. this is their mission. >> try to get a pause for longer so that more hostages can -- >> they have to bring everybody back. everybody. nobody should be in gaza. >> we know that the pressure had been building on prime minister netanyahu. we're going to hear from him just about an hour from now. what would you expect? >> i think netanyahu is going to steal us for the possibility that it won't work out. obviously it all depends on hamas cooperating, but i have to tell you, israeli officials are very optimistic, similar to what dennis said. when the negotiations were underway, hamas very quickly lowered the number that it expected, you knows, in 2011 we had a prisoner exchange of one israeli soldier, including some of the murders that took part on october 7th, were released in 2011 in that prisoner exchange. now it's down to 3 to 1, and it's not actually hamas fighters being released. what hamas cared about in the negotiations were those days of cease fire, and so thesraelis asss that hamas dperately needs those days, and it's going to be releasing the roughly ten a day until roughly eight days pass, which is the maximum that it probably has to release. >> what do we know about the 300 palestinians or so who are going to be released? >> they include women. they include minors. minors is not 4-year-old children, minors is teenagers who try to -- attempted murder or even murder, but these are not hamas fighters, but they are people who many of them feel affiliated with hamas. they are in israeli prisons for terrorism offenses of various kinds. each one is a different story. one of the interesting points is that they're going to be released to wherever they want. in the past prisoner release is the prisoner incentive, leave the country or go to one specific place. israel has no such conditions this time around. hamas didn't demand conditions. it didn't -- you know, this was -- i think the prisoner exchange itself is secondary to hamas next to the actual cease fire. >> so dennis, let me ask you about something that the qataris had to say. they released an official statement, and it says in part, quote, we hope this agreement can pave the way for a sustainable end to the war, after which the international community needs to come together to support a comprehensive political process that can finally bring this decades' long conflict to an end. is that optimistic, unrealistic? what happens? let's say the pause in fighting works. then what? >> if the pause in fighting leaves hamas in power in gaza, then we will see this again. hamas rejects the very idea of peace in israel. it's not about ending occupation, it's about ending israel. so if this pause leads to an enduring cease fire, it means that hamas basically has won. the u.s. and i think israel together both look at this as something that is essential for humanitarian purposes. look, there is an imperative to get these hostages out. if this was purely being governed by military considerations on the israeli side, they wouldn't be doing this right now. hamas does have an interest, not only because they can point to getting prisoners out, they need the pause because they're under immense military pressure from the israelis. so the statement is nice at a level of abstraction. what is really required is to get beyond this -- one way to get beyond this is to have all the hamas leaders release gaza. and then you save the palestinians in gaza. then you can create a different administration in gaza, but so long as hamas is in control of gaza, so long as they basically are in a position to continue to pursue their ideology, which is rejection of israel, the idea of any peace is really an illusion. >> haviv gur, thank you, and dennis ross, you'll be back with us later in the hour. appreciate you both. coming up, one of the family members waiting, hoping that her loved ones will soon come home from gaza. a father and his two children who will be on the list to be released. but first, travel trouble for millions ahead of thanksgiving, the latest forecast in just 60 seconds. e crohn's disease. now, there's skyrizi. ♪ things are looking up, i've got symptom relief. ♪ ♪ control of my crohn's means everything to me. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ feel significant symptom relief at 4 weeks with skyrizi, including less abdominal pain and fewer bowel movements. skyrizi is the first il-23 inhibitor that can deliver remission and visibly improve damage of the intestinal lining. and the majority of people experienced long-lasting remission at one year. serious allergic reactions and an increased risk of infections or a lower ability to fight them may occur. tell your doctor if you have an infection or symptoms, had a vaccine or plan to. liver problems may occur in crohn's disease. ♪ now's the time to ask your gastroenterologist how you can take control of your crohn's with skyrizi. ♪ ♪ control is everything to me. ♪ ♪ learn how abbvie could help you save. treacherous weather is leaving travelers scrambling to get to their thanksgiving tables. with winter storms bringing rain, wind, snow across the central u.s. and east right now. already airports knew that they'd be jugging what could be the busiest thanksgiving on record. take a look at the line for security that's been wrapping around the terminal in philadelphia or maybe we won't. and on the roads, accidents. in new hampshire, authorities are urging people to drive slowly because the highways are coated in snow, already causing a collision that folded a tractor-trailer in half. in massachusetts, the power company national grid says it's preparing for downed power lines and the state government says it has 400 pieces of equipment deployed to handle problems caused by freezing rain. nbc's trymaine lee is live from new jersey's newark liberty internationals also with me nbc meteorologist bill karins. what are you seeing? >> reporter: all day folks have been pouring in and out of north liberty international airport. many of them had their prayers answered and their fingers were crossed that everything would go smoothly, and it had. especially considering the tsa was expecting this could be the busiest travel day ever during the holiday, nearly 3 million people traveling by air today. some people said it was kind of a smooth, easy path, but others weren't so lucky. i talked to some of those folks. check it out. >> not as crazy as i thought it would be. >> we thought it would be way busier, and it's been pretty easy getting through. >> how are things going so far? >> pretty terrible. >> terrible, what happened? >> so we were supposed to get home yesterday from costa rica, but they delayed us, and then they sent us to florida, and then after florida we ended up here, but we missed work. i'm tired, i've never felt more exhausted in my life. >> reporter: despite that one traveler's experience, most of the folks we talked to said it was relatively smooth, and they're hoping that things continue. again, we're in the middle of the afternoon rush now, and folks are still, again, hoping that everything goes smoothly, chris. >> all right, so bill, is the worst of the storm behind us? that's the big question. >> almost for everyone, not quite, though, in areas of maine, we're exiting the outer banks with all our heavy rainfall. here's the heavy rain that was over wilmington, savannah, charleston earlier. it looks like the rain is ending in areas from myrtle beach to charleston. another hour you'll with all cleared out. boston you've cleared out, from portland, maine, this is messy, snow, sleet, everything. i-95, that's the worst of it. airport delays, so far so good. i mean, the winds are picking up a little bit. we are green across the board from baltimore to washington d.c., all the airports in new york are doing pretty well, and including even logan after that heavy rain this morning. no significant delays. so for thanksgiving day, we are good to go. almost everywhere, the exception, our friends in wyoming, casper, lander, cheyenne, you're going to be dealing with a snowstorm on your thanksgiving day. so keep that in mind for anyone traveling through the state. by the time we get to friday, that snow is going to be in colorado. denver's going to get some snow out of this too. it looks like the highest total is up to a foot for casper, cheyenne, locally around 6 inches of snow. fairly significant early season snowstorm for you. saturday is pretty quiet on the east coast. that snowstorm ends in kansas, and chris, they say that sunday is actually the busiest travel day on the roads and in the area. everyone getting back home. that's where we're going to see a storm system moving through the great lakes with light snow and rain down along the gulf coast. eastern seaboard you're fine, everyone in the west is fine. sunday we shouldn't see too many cancellations, maybe just a couple of delays, especially o'hare and detroit. >> keep our fingers crossed, bill, thank you so much. and still to come, inside the biden campaign's new re-election strategy to turn up the attention on donald trump. will it work? 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