,,,,,. ,,,,,,. . ,,,,,,. . ,,. ,,,,. ,. . ,,,,,,. ,,,. ,,. ,,. ,,. >>,,? >>,,,,,,,,,,. ,,,. ,. ,. ,,. . ,,,,,,. ,. but every day is a good day, tomorrow is officially the last day of this four-day pause. and so, the next question will be, whether the possibility of extending that pause for more hostages to be released, and also more palestinian prisoners to be released. that does in fact happen. >> kieran, one more question for. you do you, know or have any sense about how long it is expected to take until these hostages are crossing into the border to israel? >> that's a great question. you know, the difficulty is that, while we are hearing that handover has happened, we are not being told exactly what time it happened. so it is incredibly difficult standing here, or frankly for, any of us honestly to know. but based on the experience of the past few days i would say, anytime now, we would get the news that these hostages have indeed been handed over to israeli authorities. and then, of course, over the hours and days to come, we are likely to get these incredibly emotional videos, images, of israeli hostages arriving back with parents, and family, and the hugs, and all of that. as well, as of course, the images of the palestinian prisoners arriving back in their communities, back to their homes, and their families. >> nbc news correspondent kier simmons, thank. we will check back in just a few moments. of course, we will continue to follow these developments, but now, i want to turn to a big week ahead in american politics. and a brewing crisis that some other countries most influential conservatives have to address. now, before a single vote has even been cast in any of the 2024 primaries, donald trump and his lackeys have already begun detailing a game plan for how they intense will power if they win a second term in the white house. now his game plan promises to be even more severe, and even more draconian than his first term in office. all signs point to donald trump's plans to seek vengeance against his perceived political enemies, and to drastically overhaul the federal government as we know it. a second trum term also means more extreme immigration policies that would involve sweeping raids, the deportation of millions of people each year. now, in order to carry out these drastic policies, an effort is already underway to stack the government, were trump loyalists who are all willing to carry out his orders. and a major part of that effort starts with identifying, and hiring lawyers who will not restrain donald trump from acting on his worst impulses. being a lawyer myself, i can tell you that point, that one right there, about starting with attorneys to build this foundation is truly the crux of what these plans are all about. remember, it was donald trump who came very close to stealing the 2020 election, and he was not by himself. he did it with the aid of experienced flyers who pushed bogus legal theories, and baseless conspiracy theories about election fraud on his behalf. and they did it, knowing that these things were not true. some of them have already been criminally charged in fulton, georgia, and some of them have already accepted plea agreements, and are now even cooperating with prosecutors. an op-ed published last week, there was a trio of respected conservative lawyers, george conway, retired federal judge jay michael luttig, and former congresswoman barbara comstock, all of whom call attention to this problem within the legal profession. they write that many of their conservative colleagues appear to have been led astray, and they are loved by it. in fact, they are loud by, the owing crowd of reckless fraud and conman willing to subvert the constitution, and long established constitutional principles for the whims of political expediency. the actions of these conservative republican lawyers are increasingly becoming the new normal, in quote. now, from its very inception, i was extremely skeptical of the recent efforts to use the 14th amendment to try and disqualify donald trump from the ballot. the reason why was, beyond the legality of it, i understood, as i want you to understand, that even if those efforts had been successful, you are only getting rid of donald trump, you are not getting rid of trumpism. it is treating the symptom, and not the problem. and that is the root of what we are dealing with right now. that movement, this trio of lawyers is proposing, however, is one step closer in the right direction. is an active effort places responsibility of defeating trumpism at the feet of republicans. the actual party that is responsible for elevating donald trump in the first place. joining me now are rick wilson, cofounder of the lincoln project and host of the enemies list project, as well as terrace mayer, the senior visor for the lead we're watching, and host of the lincoln project tvs, the breakdown. also with us is a meteor cross, democratic strategist, and a political analyst for siriusxm, all-star panel, to get started, thank you all for being here. rick, starting with, you the new york times has done really extensive reporting on donald trump's plan for a second term, and in one story earlier, they wrote, quo, close allies of donald trump are preparing to populate a new administration with a more aggressive rate of right-wing lawyers who are expense in traditional -- with traditional values who believe, stymie his agenda in his first term. their aim is to reduce the chances that politically appointed lawyers would frustrate a more radical right house agenda. what does this tell you, rick, about where a second trump term might be headed? >> it is headed right into, and i don't want to gild the lily. it is heading ready to fascism, charles. this is an organization that, as my friend, george conway, and michael leonnig and barbara concept pointed out their op-ed, unless republican lawyers are dedicated to the rule of law first and foremost, and not just dedicated to donald trump's whims for a second term, you know, raw in his own image, we are going to end up in an extraordinary constitutional crisis in this country. they want to have no breaks, no guardrails, no rule of law guidance, no norms and institutional guidance. they want to act on the impulses that trump proposes in some of the darkest things that you are hearing, i'm going to imprison my political opponents. i'm gonna put people in camps. i'm going to mass deport 10 million people. i'm going to overturn 14th amendment protections for birthright citizenship. they are going to do these things, and dare the courts to catch up with them. i think it is an extraordinary warning from conway, luttig, and comstock this week, and the times reporting on it does backup the intention behind trump's entire plan here, which is to bypass the actual rule of law, and substitute for his whims. >> tara, we have these competing narratives, i think, on the right, where people are, in some cases, in denial about how powerful maga nation and continues to be as a guiding force for so many on the right. and then there are folks who are just claiming that there is this desire for a hard pivot. and i want to know, from your perspective, is that sustainable, canopy reconciled, or is this inevitably going to rip the republican party apart at seems? >> well, it looks to me like it's already ripped apart its seems. this is not the republican party that rick and i worked in for decades. this is an authoritarian movement now fully in the clutches of donald trump and his ilk. it is obvious. the last branch of government is the judiciary. that was the guardrail that stopped what was a coup attack in 2020. it is ongoing. the coup has never stopped. they learn from their mistakes, and they are telling us what they are doing. i don't know why this is such news to people, that trump wants to do these things, and that there are people out there willing to be his accomplices to get this done. why is this news? they have been showing us who they are, and telling us what they want to do and trying to do it once already, and now they are protecting their mistakes. they're making those attempts and telling us they're gonna do it so i'm glad to see that more people are waking up to this, and trying to sound the alarm. we've been doing at the lincoln project for years now. but it is important that the american people understand this, this is a very dangerous, precarious time in this country. there are millions of americans that are susceptible to the continued demagoguery of authoritarianism, and dividing this country in ways that will make this country unrecognizable. and people don't want to admit that that is how dangerous, and close we are to this level of authoritarian we are going to wake up one day, and not recognize our democracy. if donald trump and his minions, and people who follow trump-ism are back in power. under this, there should be no circumstance whatsoever that a scourge of trumpism, this lunatic, he is a lunatic, are we listening to the rantings of this mad men? he tells them every single day, he posts them. we should be covering this. osts them. we >> the american people should be hearing this. and the media should be pointing out that says the rantings of an authoritarian lunatic wants china's country into something resembling not to germany in the 30s. that is the bottom line, i think. and our judicial system has now been, the final frontier. it is our last guardrail to stop him, in the federal society who has been around for decades. this is the dog with the car. they are completely off the rails now and what they were trying to do before. it is not just, conservatives, conservative scholarship. it has turned into authoritarianism and fascism. and now it needs to be stopped. >> i want to pick up exactly where terry just left off. a lot of that is about messaging and leveraging messaging in the right way. i've said that, in large part, the left has an issue around messaging and messenger, in some respects. do you think that democrats are doing a good job in terms of leveraging what we already know around trump and his radical plans, project 2025, and all other things that could happen as far as reaching an energizing their base? >> i think democrats are doing a good job. could they do better, absolutely. i think the issue here is that republicans who are absolutely willing and ready to support trump a second time. i think that, despite all of the legal challenges, and all of what he has planned out loud, and in public, because he seen that. we know this is a retribution campaign, we noticed a revenge campaign. but more importantly, we know that, during my time in undergrad, 2005 to 2009, we talked about authoritarianism and authoritarian slide. but they talk about it in a projection of 30, 40, 50 years away. we are here today, and i think that we have to fully understand what that means. donald j trump is not lying about his plans, he tried it when he was president. he will continue to try over an over again. and there are lackeys within the republican party who are willing to work with him on that planning, despite the fact that he's seen time and time again to the band at the very people who helped him throughout this process. we know that his lawyers, and others, who were at the lights of his took guilty pleas in georgia. we know what that actually looks like. however, that has not stopped a single person from supporting this man. we can judge that by the current polling, as it relates to the republican primaries. he is light years ahead of any of his opponents. that tells us something that we need to know and understand about what the republican party and republican voters want to see. i am not remiss in saying that they don't understand what donald trump is presenting. because they fully do. he said it out loud, proudly, multiple times over. there is something very dangerous and dark in american society, when you have republicans who are more than willing to support an authoritarian regime, who are more than willing to set fire to our constitution, who are more than willing to be isolationist, and present that posture and be okay with it. because when donald trump is doing is not only wrong, it is against everything our constitution stands for. and far too many americans have fallen hook, line, and sinker for it. and they are willing to see a guard, and open the doors of our democracy to watch it fall apart. that is where my fear lies. the democratic party is doing what they need to do, the republican party is opening doors to authoritarianism, in letting the floodwaters russian. that is the issue we are having here. >> well said, much appreciated. thank you all, rick, tara, and michelle for getting us started in the second hour of velshi today. we have more breaking news in the hostage and prisoner exchange, that is now reportedly underway between hamas and israel. the idf now says a group of 17 hostages has been released to hamas and to the red cross, just moments ago. now, we are hearing that the spokes from the qatar foreign ministry is telling us that 39 palestinian prisoners will be released in exchange today for those hostages. joining me, again, is clear signals in doha, qatar, and megan fitzgerald in london. they are both nbc correspondents. kyra, thank you for coming back. tell us what we know now about the expected exchange of the hostages in the 39 palestinian prisoners? >> well, that's right. that tweet from the qatari foreign ministry and spokesperson for the qatari foreign ministry implicitly confirming that that handover has taken place. we pretty much knew that already from the israeli defense forces, and also from hamas, that that hand over to the international committee of the red cross had taken place. but that tweet from the qataris, describing it as 13 israeli civilians from gaza, in addition to an israeli land the russian national of three ties. so, again, just to be clear, the 13 israeli citizens can also be dual citizens, may be have citizenships with numbers of other countries. and as you say, that tweet from the qatari foreign ministry, also saying that the handover of 39 palestinian prisoners is set to take place. that is the exchange. it is three for one, if you, like three palestinian prisoners for each hostage, israeli hostage, handed over. the ties are slightly different, because they are not dual nationals. they are tine, asheville's they don't have israeli citizenship. so that is the picture that we have right now. they are in the hands of the red cross, or at least they have been in the past hour or so. when they are handed over to the israelis, i mean, i think that may be happening right now, anytime now we may get that news, and of course, people will be waiting to hear whether there are american citizens, dual israeli american citizens among that group, including that little girl and american, abigail turon, who turns four on friday. >> thank you for staying on top of this continuing, evolving situation. megan, there is a convoy of aid that went into gaza today that was carrying some essential items. can you talk about the significance of these aid trucks, where they are going, what it is that is on these trucks, and how it's going to help once it reaches its extended target? >> yes, charles. this is incredibly significant. this is exactly what we know world leaders have been calling for, many calling for cease-fire, but certainly welcoming a pause. humanitarian aid groups have been calling for this pause so that we can see more humanitarian aid entering the enclave to the millions of people that are desperate. so, at this hour, what we know is that 120 of the roughly 200 aid trucks that are expected to enter the gaza strip today have arrived. now that is significant because, what we saw before this pause with some 20 to 40 trucks, on average, entering a day, which is a drop in the bucket, because what they saw before the war even began with some 500 trucks going in. but what is on board. we are seeing food, water medical, supplies we are also seeing trucks carrying fuel, household gas is entering as well we know that of course, how mahsa said it is not about a reaching the north, but for the first-time, we are seeing these aid trucks reaching the northern part of the gaza strip. we know that this is getting to the people that desperately need it, because this is a process that is being overseen by international aid organizations like unicef, the red cross, the red crescent, so it is incredibly important. because the people there are desperate. we know resources are also reaching al-shifa hospital just near gaza city. where evacuations are underway. and it is also worth mentioning that we saw the first arab official enter from egypt into gaza. this is a high ranking qatari delegation to enter today. it was led by the minister of state of international cooperation. she assess the situation. she spoke with people who were injured, and she talked to people on the ground there. so, overall, this is a welcome sight, where we are seeing aid entering in at a faster rate than the people who are in desperate need for it, charles. >> thank, you megan, kyra, yesterday egypt cycle that it would be open to extending the four-day truce. it really appears that israel's government is not willing to do that. so when tomorrow comes, we are on day three of a four-day truce, what happens? where do we stand, and does the fighting just immediately commence, or is there any hope that this can be extended in a way that will allow for peace talks, or at, least the exchange of additional hostages for prisoners? >> yeah, i would not necessarily race to the conclusion quite yet that the israelis won't agree to an extinction of the pause. if you just look at what happened yesterday with the intense diplomacy and negotiations over whether, in the view of hamas, enough aid was being sent into gaza, by, that i mean the aid that had been promised, whether it was being sent into gaza. if you just look at how that played out, over a number of tense hours, you can see, that every moment of this is diplomacy. so there is, i think hope, among qatari officials that it will be extended. the israelis may be gaining some confidence and trust that may mean that they agree for it to be extended. but remember, that we get to the end of this process, they will still be a lot of hostages being held by hamas. and there is enormous amount of pressure on the israeli government to release those hostages, and, again, just in terms of the numbers that we are seeing, that right now, you're seeing them on your screen, it is interesting, just to note, that the exchange of palestinian prisoners is for the 13 israeli citizens. so 39 palestinian prisoners, divide that 39 by three. it is 3 to 1. that is the 13 israeli citizens. so those three citizens from thailand, were not part of the negotiation, because they were israeli citizens. and so the israelis did not want to hand over palestinian prisoners in exchange for citizens, for people who aren't citizens of israel. but what's interesting in the detail of all of this is that, the qataris and hamas are talking about one russian, in amongst the 17. one russian, again, to make a point. the division of 39 palestinian prisoners to 13 israelis suggests that that russian was not part of that negotiation either, but that was a separate negotiation, which would've been with the russian government very likely through the qataris here in the egyptians, with hamas. so there will be, there is incredibly complex, and high stakes diplomacy taking place. and, frankly, in the last three days, charles, any moment, this whole thing could have collapsed. it does look like today has been smoother than yesterday. this is earlier for these hostages to be released than yesterday. so, that suggests that tomorrow may