click or stop by granger for the ones who get it done. >> it's 11:00 eastern, 8 a.m. pacific. thanks for staying with us. i'm ana cabrera, reporting from new york. breaking news from the white house. any moment now, the president will depart washington for the middle east and the first big international trip of his second term, a trip

the white house is framing more as a dealmaking venture than a pressing diplomatic visit. the president will kick off his trip in saudi arabia before heading to qatar and the united arab emirates. nbc news white house correspondent vaughn hillyard is standing by, along with nbc news international correspondent hala gorani and jeff bennett, co-anchor of pbs newshour and msnbc political contributor vaughn. there are so many pressing issues in the region, from the war in gaza to the iran nuclear deal, to the push to normalize relations between saudi arabia and israel. what is the president's priority for this trip? >> he also sees them as business partners, not only, of. >> course. >> for his. own financial interests. >> but for the. >> united states. the uae, for instance, is just. >> on may 1st. his son, eric trump, was at a crypto conference. >> in the uae and announced, along with. >> steve witkoff son, who is a copartner. >> in their. crypto venture. >> a $2 billion. >> the uae.

>> putting toward a trump backed crypto. >> coin as. >> part of a. financial purchase into the major crypto exchange. but also, you have saudi arabia. >> announcing earlier. >> this year. >> that they intend. >> to put hundreds of. >> billions of. >> dollars of investments into the united states, the uae as well. and so the president. >> has increasingly, as. >> he did in the. >> first administration, saudi arabia. riyadh was. >> his first stop back. >> in 2017. >> as well. he sees not only a business partnership, but also one that he worked. >> for the abraham accords. saudi has been of high interest. >> to try to. >> normalize relations. >> of course, the israel-gaza israel-hamas war has gotten in the way of the developments on. that front. the president has expressed frustration. according to nbc news. reporting with bibi netanyahu and the continued firing of. >> rockets into. >> gaza, tens. >> of. >> thousands of. >> palestinians have now been killed. at the same. >> time, he sees. >> the importance of. >> the region. >> not only in the. >> gulf but also here

domestically when. >> it comes to investments. >> in the future. >> for business angle of. >> this year in the united states. >> many potential layers. >> to this trip, jeff. >> the new york times highlights what it calls the branding exercise of this trip. quote, surrounded by resource rich royals and american business executive mr. trump, who likes to brag about his deal making skills, will scrawl his sharpie over term sheets. and lots of them. he will visit palaces, walk on red carpets, will be treated like a king in a region that is increasingly vital to the trump family's financial interests. how much of this trip, jeff, is about optics? >> yeah. >> it's a great question. and to bonds, really smart point. i think there will be echoes to this trip to the president's first overseas trip during his first term, where he was heralded as this. leader who was. really eager to make quick wins to. >> secure these. >> transactional wins. and president. trump's view of foreign policy is in many ways

on a, i. >> think. >> informed by economic statecraft. >> so he's looking at these foreign countries with their really wealthy, sovereign investment funds as an investment tool. >> for the u.s. >> and so. >> you know, there are. >> aides of his who say that this is in. many ways, if you sort of use this idea of branding, that he really wants to sort of burnish his his america first ethos by saying, i took this trip and came back with x, y, z deals. now doing that, he sort of put transactional wins. that's much easier than trying to solve the israel-gaza war or trying to bring the war in. ukraine to an end. those are intractable problems. >> and you can argue. >> that the president really hasn't sort of committed the sort of staff and the sort of focus on those issues to bring those to a resolution to the degree that he's focused on trying to secure these quick wins on. >> trade. >> technology and investments with these middle eastern countries, on. >> the war ino obvious as a key piece of what's happening in the region. and yet the

president is not planning to meet with israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu. i know they spoke on the phone this morning, but what's the significance of that missing piece, and what's the message it might send to other leaders in the region? >> well, it's. >> interesting because. >> this notion that president trump's foreign policy is much more transactional than it is ideological. >> in this case. >> can be. seen in just the latest development. the fact that steve witkoff, the negotiating team of the trump administration, talking directly. >> to hamas, essentially completely. >> bypassing benjamin netanyahu, who really appears quite isolated because it's not just this deal to free the last living american hostage, edan alexander. it was also a deal that was struck with the iran backed houthis in yemen that the president again mentioned today at the white house before signing that executive order, as. well as now several rounds of. talks between the united

states and iran to try to revive some sort of nuclear deal. so the really message here being sent, and i'm in. >> tel. >> aviv, here to the prime minister. >> of israel. >> benjamin netanyahu. >> is that essentially. >> he is. >> not becoming essential. >> to coming to some sort of agreement with. >> hamas. >> with some of these groups, to present the president as the dealmaker. but it is very true that it does not solve the fundamental issue of the israel-hamas war here, nor does it solve the entry of aid into the gaza strip that. >> has not been. >> allowed by the israeli government since march 2nd. >> ana angela, you mentioned the expected release of american israeli hostage edan alexander could happen really at any moment. here's some of what the president said about this just last hour. >> they're going to be releasing edan in about two hours from now or sometime today, let's say.

and again, they thought he was dead just a short while ago. his parents are so happy. they're so happy. so it's as you know, it ends a the only american citizen captured and held hostage by hamas since october 7th, 2023. and he's coming home to his parents, which is really great news. >> it is such. >> such great news, hala, what do we know about how this came to be? >> well, we do know, as i mentioned, that the negotiation, the talks happened directly with hamas, and this happened over the weekend, and we were getting word just about 24. >> hours ago. >> that the release. >> of edan. >> alexander may happen today or tomorrow. now we. >> know that it's. going to. >> happen this evening. we know. >> that the red. >> cross, according to israeli media, is about. >> to take. >> custody of. edan alexander,

who will be released. >> after some. >> 583 days. >> in hamas captivity. >> we understand that he will then be transferred to israeli special forces custody within the gaza strip, and then taken to a military airbase, where he will be reunited with. >> his mother. >> his father and other family members. but i spoke with the father of one israeli hostage who still in captivity inside of the gaza strip. and over. >> and over again. >> we heard from hostage families that they believe only one person can get their loved. ones out. >> and. that is not benjamin netanyahu. >> but president donald trump. listen. >> only hope is in. >> president trump. >> we have no. trust in our government. >> as i said there on the podium. >> we have no trust in our government. >> our government is betrayed, betraying us. it's not something new. we knew it. >> all along. that's why. >> we were fighting. >> and we knew. >> that only external source. >> can force netanyahu to do the hostage deal. and that.

>> is what. >> is happening right now. >> and that's a view we. >> hear over. >> and over again. as i mentioned. edan alexander should be out of gaza in just a few hours, and we'll see if he's taken to. >> a hospital in. >> tel aviv or. >> if he has more. >> severe or serious health concerns, whether or not he'll be treated on the spot at the air base. >> ana and again, the president saying could be within a couple of hours. that was last hour. we're hearing soon at this point, still unknown the exact timing. but geoff, as we anticipate this happening, how do you see it? does this signal any kind of change in terms of the us relationship with israel and how the negotiations are transpiring when it comes to any potential resolution to the conflict in gaza? >> it's hard to tell. >> i think one thing. >> that is true there is there has. >> been. >> a certain sense of frustration among the administration with the slowness and with the way that netanyahu

has has handled things thus far in trying to bring. about a. lasting ceasefire. i think the fact that the administration negotiated directly with hamas on the release of this u.s. citizen is, is notable, and the degree to which israel found out by monitoring, monitoring hamas interactions and those and those talks. >> so the way. >> that this came together is it does it inform does it say. anything about what's to come? that i'm not entirely sure, but this is a really important, of course, relationship. and the degree to which donald trump relies on netanyahu as a partner in trying to bring about some resolution here, even, of course, you know, as he goes to qatar and there's all kinds of conversations about trump accepting an air force one, some version of air force one from qatar. >> there are many. >> dynamics here at play and certainly worth watching moving forward. >> yeah. let's talk more about that on this. you know, escalating controversy over what the president is calling a gift from qatar, this new luxury

jumbo jet that trump says will replace air force one. he talked about how it's been aging and needs to be replaced. president insists this is just a gift. the white house says any gift will be in compliance with the law. but behind closed doors at the white house, expecting this will be challenged in court. >> this we. >> should absolutely expect. >> a challenge to this year. democrats have. >> been very vocal. >> over the last. >> hours about their opposition. >> saying that this. violates a foreign emoluments clause. this is a question, though, of the extent that they would be able to. >> prove that. >> this amounts to bribery. >> the question here is when you're talking about an aircraft that's 300 to $400. >> million, that apparently, according. >> to two. >> sources, including. >> one who. >> tells me that the qataris intend. >> to effectively gift this aircraft to the trump library. foundation once president. >> trump. leaves office, the new. >> air. >> force one is expected to be completed in a couple. >> of years. >> time, sometime near the end.

>> of his. >> this term in office here. but this is. >> a. >> question about. >> also the potential impact. >> of the foreign influence. i mean. >> we're talking about. >> the president making. >> a trip to qatar. >> literally here this week. >> and when we're talking about. >> the impact, he said. >> from the oval office. >> a few minutes ago that a stupid person wouldn't take such a nice gift as this at the same time, look. >> like qatar. >> has very. >> close ties and relationships with iran. for example, in this, travel. >> to the gulf. >> is taking place at a time that his own. negotiators are trying to reconstruct a new iran nuclear deal. and so there are serious questions at hand about the impact that such a gift as this could have. of course, it's not even in the us's possession yet, and we're looking at potentially weeks away from it making its way back to the united states. so there's a lot of questions. >> democrats have. >> been on the front lines and scrutinizing this. at the same time. this is not normal to have a gift like this presented to the president of the united states and him so openly defend the decision to accept it.

>> and guys, as you were just talking, we got word that the red cross, the red cross convoy has arrived in northern khan yunis in anticipation of this hostage release situation involving american israeli edan alexander. we're going to stay on top of this, going to squeeze in a quick break. vaughn hillyard, hala gorani and jeff bennett, thank you all for the conversation. coming up here on ana cabrera reports. we're also watching the markets, which have jumped this morning as u.s. and china strike a temporary trade deal to cut those massive tariffs. but will the pause last long enough to lower prices? plus, growing troubles with the nation's air traffic control system, some being updated using floppy disks. if you remember those things, the system stress it's causing nationwide and how the trump administration plans to fix it. and president trump keeping the pressure on russia and ukraine ahead of thursday's proposed peace talks. will president zelenskyy and vladimir putin meet face to face? we're putin meet face to face? we're back in 9

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that last remaining living american hostage in the gaza strip. so it looks as though we're going to be seeing him release very, very soon. his family is now in israel, accompanied by adam boehler, who, if you remember, just a couple of months ago, very controversially, was the one the american diplomat or not even he's not even a diplomat. he was just someone who was appointed by the trump administration to deal with hostages. he never actually got that position. he pulled up his his application for that position because of conflicts of interest. he was. and now he is actually accompanying the alexander family to israel to pick up their son. he actually tweeted that a photo of himself with the family. and, you know, this is a man who, as i said controversially, just a couple of months ago, actually had direct negotiations with hamas. now, that was the first time that we had seen that in really generations, the us government or an official who was appointed by the us government, reaching

out directly to a designated terrorist organization. but now it looks as though that might have been we don't know for sure what the mechanics were behind this. that might have been a decision that helped to lead to this final release of edan alexander. now there are still four american bodies that are left in the gaza strip. like edan, they are dual american israeli citizens. they are still there, but edan alexander, again, the last living american in the gaza strip. so this will in many ways be a big foreign policy win for president donald trump, just as he's about tomorrow to begin his trip to the middle east, where he's going to be visiting three different countries, not israel, but he's going to be visiting, crucially, qatar, which has been a very important intermediary in these negotiations between the united states and between israel and hamas. and now we're seeing a lot of those negotiations coming to a successful fruition with the release of this last american hostage. now, the

interesting thing is here is that this is not going to be involving israelis. and we've been hearing from the hostages family forum. they're the people who represent the family members of the hostages, the israeli hostages and the american hostages who are still left in the gaza strip. they expressed hope about this move, but they also expressed, as they have many, many times in the past year and a half since the october 7th attacks, since that mass hostage taking started, frustration in benjamin netanyahu, the israeli prime minister, and the israeli government for not releasing the remaining nearly 60 hostages, only 24 of whom are thought to still be alive. that has been not just something that we've been seeing in statements, but, you know, we've been seeing protests, sometimes violent riots in the streets of tel aviv and jerusalem demanding that the israeli government come to a deal with hamas to release those remaining hostages. so, you know, this is going to be something that a lot of people are going to see as as a hopeful sign. hamas certainly sees this as a hopeful sign. they said they're doing this as a gesture to try to get to some sort of

negotiated deal that would not only bring an end to the war, which is something that they've been demanding since october 7th, but would also bring in aid into the gaza strip. it's now been more than two months since the israelis blocked all aid. and by all aid, i mean not just food, but also fresh water, medicine, fuel into the gaza strip. this is the longest period of time that the gaza strip has been without aid from outside in its existence. so they're hoping that this gesture to the americans, again, bypassing jerusalem, bypassing benjamin netanyahu, the israeli prime minister, and his far right government, going straight to the americans, that this this gesture of goodwill might lead to some sort of deal that will bring relief to the more than 2 million people in the gaza strip. >> matt, you gave us just so much background there as we await the release of edan alexander. can you just remind us of his story, specifically what we know about him, how he was captured and anything we've learned about his time in captivity? and actually, i'm

going to interrupt myself because i'm being told that now we have confirmed he has been released and is on his way to israel again to talk to us about what we know of him and his story. >> yeah, well, this is a 20, 21 year old young man. he is american, israeli. he was captured while serving. so he is an israeli soldier. he is basically a combatant. he was wearing an israeli uniform, but he was taken while he was at a guard post near the gaza strip on october 7th. now, we've seen him a couple times in videos that were released by hamas, where he was begging for his freedom. he was begging for president trump to do something, begging for benjamin netanyahu and his government to do something. these are the kind of propaganda videos that we've seen repeatedly being released by hamas. we don't normally show that much of them. we can only show really, you know, them announcing their names because it's considered to be taken under duress, these videos. but this is a young man who clearly

has been spending well, more than 500 days, nearly 600 days in captivity, under what we can assume, what we know from his own videos to be unbearable conditions, what we know from those hostages who have been released. his family has been active in an outspoken in trying to urge his release. his mother, yael, is in israel right now trying to work for his release, hoping to meet him. he she's with adam boehler, this diplomat, this american diplomat who is accompanying them, the family to israel. so we can hope that we're going to be seeing this young man very soon. and that we're now. >> seeing just telling you, we're looking at these live pictures. these are from his hometown of tenafly, new jersey, where you can see people have gathered anxiously awaiting his release. obviously, there's so much elation that he is alive, is being released after more

than a year and a half in captivity. stay with me, matt. i want to bring in nbc's white house correspondent, vaughn hillyard, who has been digging into what happened leading up to this. vaughn, this is the last american hostage still believed to be alive in captivity. but we know there's been a push to retrieve bodies of other american hostages who died in captivity. any movement on that? >> right. >> this is where the tenuous relationship is fraught with difficulty. here we're looking at the us, which inserted itself from the biden administration to the trump administration, effectively trying to help not only with the assurances that hostages would be released by hamas back to israel. but that the bombings and attacks on gaza would come to an end and that this war would cease. its initial cease fire agreement was struck and an initial turnover of hostages was agreed to. but effectively, in the middle of

march, we saw that cease fire come to an end as israel and prime minister bibi netanyahu maintained that they would do whatever it took to take out hamas completely. and we have seen over the last two months the attacks continue, and we saw protests from other arab nations, including saudi arabia and qatar, where the president is going to be visiting here this week. and we saw the president directly credit qatar and egypt for being mediators with hamas in the turnover of iran. alexander, this is notable because this was not an exchange, apparently, but the president suggesting that it was done in good faith by hamas. there is coming at a time in which there has been frustration from this white house with israel's ongoing attacks and the fact that the remaining hostages have not been turned over. there are still more than 20 hostages believed to be alive, that hamas has refused to engage in a

hostage transfer. over. and this is where you are looking at for the white house. the president, literally just as this announcement was coming in, as you were saying this on air, ana, marine one took off here from the white house and route to joint base andrews. and so these images are coming in in real time out of new jersey, as we anticipate here, potentially even seeing an alexander at the same time that the president is going to the region. and as you guys were just discussing, though, notably skipping his visit to israel, this is complex. it is difficult. human lives are here on the line. and of course, much to celebrate for the return of alexander at a time that there is still an ongoing war. tens of thousands of palestinians have died. this is a complex, difficult moment for the region and for this white house, and figuring out how it approaches its ongoing mediation between hamas and israel as this war continues. >> and where does prime minister

benjamin netanyahu fit into all of that? matt, let me read part of a statement from the hostages and missing families forum as we continue to celebrate the release of aiden alexander and look for more information about how he is doing and the next steps for him. again, there are still dozens of other families waiting for their moment to celebrate, and this message reads will you choose to make history a message to netanyahu from these families? will you choose to make history, bring everyone home, and allow israeli society to heal? or will you continue to stall and evade responsibility at the cost of eroding the israeli ethos, harming the hostages and forfeiting the chance to retrieve the fallen prime minister? this is the moment to lead some veiled criticism within that statement. clearly, you can understand their frustration of how long it's been. what kind of pressure is the prime minister under, and what is the direction he plans to take the hostage negotiations

and what's happening with hamas and the war in gaza? matt. >> yeah. ana, i mean, it's a great question because when we're talking about the pressure that the prime minister faces in israel, really what we're talking about here is that this hits right on the fault line of israeli politics, dividing left and right. as i mentioned before, prime minister benjamin netanyahu's cabinet is the most far right cabinet in the history of israel. and they are he is under substantial pressure, really, for his political life and actually for his own freedom. if he is to come to some sort of agreement with hamas that would end the war and withdraw israeli troops from the gaza strip, the far right elements of his cabinet, several ministers who basically allow him to be the prime minister. still, they have threatened to withdraw. now there are other, more centrist candidates, more centrist politicians, who have said that they will step into the cabinet to rescue it, to keep benjamin netanyahu in power, basically saying that he can make a deal with hamas and stay in power. but if he is to lose his prime, his premiership,

he could actually face very, very serious fraud charges that could see him going to jail. and that's one of the reasons why a lot of speculation within israel, a lot of observers of israel in the middle east say that one of the reasons why benjamin netanyahu is taking this by the middle is because he's trying to avoid being arrested himself, losing his seat as the premier and going to jail. now, if the if there is this, this problem with his cabinet, if he does make a deal to end the war and release all the remaining hostages, a deal, by the way, that hamas has repeatedly said they're willing to make, they have said over and over again for the past 18 months, they will release all of those remaining 59. now, if edan alexander has been released, 58 hostages, if the israelis stop fighting, withdraw their forces and allow all of the aid to come back into the gaza strip and begin the process of reconstruction, they will release those remaining hostages. so obviously, there's a lot of anger from the family

members of the hostages. and you remember you just mentioned this statement from the hostages family forum. it's not really veiled criticism. it is direct anger that we've been seeing. and again, not just these statements in, you know, on an official level, but from anger in the streets of tel aviv and jerusalem and all throughout israel, people coming out again and again on a weekly basis for the past 15 months, demanding angrily that this government take action to free the remaining hostages, and saying over and over again that it is benjamin netanyahu is extending this war for his own political purposes. we haven't just seen that from civilians in the street. we haven't just seen that from the family members of the hostages. we've also been seeing that from serving members of the military, from leaders in the military, from officers who have signed open letters, publishing them in the israeli media, demanding that the prime minister do something about the remaining hostages and not continue the fight. now, we've also heard, as i mentioned from the far right, the people who are basically keeping this government in israel afloat,

saying that if they do sign some sort of deal to end the war, that would spare hamas the fate that so many israelis want to see. they want to see this this terrorist organization completely destroyed, that they will withdraw from the government and therefore end it. so benjamin netanyahu is, as always, caught in the middle, and he is a consummate political survivor. he has survived this before. you know, his his poll numbers have been tanking for the past 18 months now. they've been rising up again, as he's basically put down hezbollah in lebanon and cowed iran, which was one of the major threats facing israel over the past year and a half. his record is very mixed. he's an extremely divisive and controversial figure among israelis. but once again, it seems as though he's surviving. his biggest challenge now. appears to be from the white house. >> forgive me for interrupting. let let me just address what we're looking at here. this is a helicopter, obviously, at an air base in israel. we don't know

exactly the significance of it. if this is the chopper in which ellen alexander is on or is expected to board, we are going to be watching, monitoring, looking for any image. and we are seeing this as we're hearing in the upper right corner and looking at the cheering crowd here in his hometown of tenafly, new jersey, anxiously awaiting any news of how he's doing now as he gets his freedom after so many months in captivity at the hands of hamas. and joel rubin is back with us now. joel, what's going through your mind as we as we await news of alexander's release? >> ana. >> it clearly. >> is, is an emotional moment. it for me personally, over the past two weeks, i've been attending israeli memorial day services, as well as

independence day services known as zikaron and yom ha'atzmaut. and at each of these services and events, we talk about and people talk about the hostages and getting them released. i can't tell you how deeply it matters to the american jewish community in particular, to have these hostages released and the travesty of their being there for nearly 18 months, as you pointed out. so for don to come. >> out. >> it's a beautiful moment. as we discussed earlier, though, there's so many other questions that that remain that have to be addressed politically as well. but on a humanitarian level, it's crucial. it's long past due. and i'm grateful that that that he's able to come home and be free and be released. >> and we are now getting confirmation from hamas that the handover has taken place and hamas putting out a statement saying it comes as part of the efforts being made by mediators to achieve a ceasefire, open the crossings and allow aid and relief to reach our people in

the gaza strip. what does that tell you, joel, about how hamas, the just the state of hamas at this moment and how hamas is looking at its prospects in this ongoing battle with israel? >> you know, a couple of things to think through here. one is they are. >> leaning in publicly. >> to the idea that they want to cease fire. that creates a window for diplomacy. >> it means that. >> when president trump goes out to the region, well, he may want this to be a business discussion. he's going to get an earful about how there needs to be a real day after a plan for the long term peace in that region. and one of the key things on a i know we've talked about this, is that getting israel to become a normalized country across the region means having an agreement with saudi arabia. that's been part of the whole plan. and it looks like president trump's talking about maybe not bringing israel in. we don't know. but saudi is always demanding a two state solution as part of that. this kind of arab role in normalizing israel

into the middle east is crucial. that needs to continue to remain top of mind, pushing hamas towards that and allowing them to getting them to allow the palestinian people in gaza to breathe must be part of that as well. so we do need robust diplomacy to resolve all these issues. it is a good sign to see a hostage release, but we're going to need to see real, real engagement by this administration to really resolve the issues and not just take one offs. our individual photo ops, which i fear sometimes is the case. >> matt, what more can you tell us about what's happening in gaza and the conditions that people are dealing with there? >> yeah, well, as i mentioned, it's been more than two months since the israelis cut off all aid into the gaza strip. and when i talk about aid, i'm talking about not just food, but also fresh water. palestinians in the gaza strip are now drinking brackish water, which is like a mix of fresh water and salt water. so obviously pretty unhealthy. they don't have access to medical care. medical supplies have been forbidden from entering into the gaza

strip. then also electricity has been blocked from entering the gaza strip. that means that their water desalination plants are no longer operable. so that is a really, really point, a really big point of suffering for the more than 2 million people in the gaza strip. and that is on top of the fact that the bombardments by the israelis have continued. we're seeing dozens of people killed every single day, many of them civilians, according to the doctors that we've spoken to in the gaza strip, including quite a few children, the number of children killed every day is really just enormous. and again, i can't give you a stat in terms of the proportion, but the doctors that we've spoken to have said that since the fighting has resumed in on march 18th, since israel broke that ceasefire and moved back into the gaza strip, that the proportion of children killed among the casualties has actually increased. now we're starting to see the israelis announced just recently a renewed effort to attack the gaza strip and to subjugate

hamas. so now they have plans to actually occupy huge parts of the gaza strip as before. they said this is distinct from their operations before, when they were basically taking over parts of the gaza strip and launching operations from their positions. now they will take over the gaza strip. they will basically occupy territory indefinitely. so now they have a huge proportion of the gaza strip under their control. they have said that they're going to be moving the palestinian population to the southern part of the gaza strip. they say, for their own safety. a lot of aid groups and advocacy organizations say that this amounts to ethnic cleansing. now, at the same time, we're hearing the israelis have approved the israeli cabinet has approved a plan to take over the distribution of aid in the gaza strip. now, the details of this are sketchy, but aid groups have said that this is going to be it's going to be not enough aid to meet the ever mounting demand

for food and water and medical care in the gaza strip. and they said that putting the israelis in charge of this will be basically, you know, like putting the fox in charge of the henhouse, that this is not going to be effective and that this needs to be distributed to people in the gaza strip. the israelis have been putting mixed signals out about this. it sounds as though some of the plans might involve using contractors to distribute the aid from different points throughout the gaza strip. again, aid and advocacy organizations have said that by distributing it in specific areas of the gaza strip, it's not going to be able to meet the needs of the more than 2 million people in the gaza strip. so this is one of the things that is really pressing on the civilian population. the civilian population is now pressing on their leadership. hamas. we're seeing increased protests among civilians in the gaza strip against their hamas leaders, just like we've been seeing in parallel protests in jerusalem, in tel aviv and major cities throughout israel against the israeli government, demanding that they come to a deal. we're seeing residents of

the gaza strip protesting against hamas, demanding that hamas come to a deal. so mounting pressure from the civilians on both sides. >> and that may be now part of the motivation of hamas to make this deal with the u.s, to free edan alexander. again, we have confirmed the handover has happened. we were showing that chopper and now we've learned that chopper supposed to transport don alexander to tel aviv. so we'll continue to monitor those images. we're also continuing to stay with these pictures out of tenafly, new jersey. in this rally in his hometown. he was born in tel aviv but raised in tenafly. and joining us now is new jersey congressman josh gottheimer. we know he went to tenafly high school in your state. you're at that rally. talk to us about what the feeling is like there on the ground, the sentiment as everyone prepares to welcome edan alexander to his freedom. >> i have to be. >> honest with you, i think everyone. is just overwhelmed with emotion and joy. there's

tears and. >> and happiness, and i think we're. >> all just waiting. >> for the final moments. >> to see him. >> and this is a. >> community that stood by edan every step of the way for 584 days now that he's been. >> in captivity. >> in the hands of hamas terrorists, they never gave up hope, just like his family and the community has stood together. we've all been here since 5:00 this morning. and there's thousands of people who have gathered here. it's really overwhelming. and a sign that you never give. >> up and we. >> never leave anyone behind. and that's really what this is about. >> and we see those images also in israel as folks there, get ready to welcome him home. congressman, your thoughts on this deal potentially being a unilateral deal, the us talking directly with hamas to make this happen? >> well. >> i haven't seen all that i know. i've just heard some of the details. i haven't seen all the specifics. so i'll comment more when i know more. but what our top objective is has always been to get adam and all the americans home. we still have some americans we believe are no longer alive to get home. the

last living american hostage is coming home. and that's that's what we always said we would do to fight, to get him home and to make sure not only do we. crush the terrorists, but make sure we get humanitarian aid in and whatever we can do, if we can get peace to this region and get the hostages home, that remains our paramount objective. and today's a very exciting day. and once, once we see him. >> you can't imagine. >> what people here are experiencing and. and the joy that people are feeling here right now. and the tears in everyone's eyes. and those kids we went to high school. >> with because as you said, he just he went to. high school. >> was on the swim team. >> just an all-american kid. and i was talking to some of his classmates and. >> and all these parents who've known. >> him. he's just. >> like anyone else's son in this community. and so to have him come home will be just. >> a dream come true. >> for, for all of us here. >> and the president saying that, you know, steve witkoff, his middle east envoy, was very, very instrumental in making this

all happen, even though he had very little experience in the region or this topic moving, you know, going into his position, i will say that i'm looking at the statement that the president had put out on truth social, and he does mention that there were mediators involved in making this all happen, including qatar and egypt. we know the president is headed to qatar as one of his stops along his visit in the middle east. the three states or the three countries will be visiting there saudi arabia, united arab emirates as well as qatar. so the timing of this coinciding with that visit, what what's the significance? do you see? >> you know, frankly, i'm i'm going to give credit to everybody who was involved in getting him home, but most importantly, his mom and dad and his family, who never gave up hope for one minute. i talked to them all the time, and their optimism and strength and courage. they never for one minute thought he wasn't coming home and. >> stop fighting for him. >> and as part of that, whether it was the biden administration or this administration who have been involved in fighting every single day to get him home, so

many of us who've traveled around the world at the parents request, who never who insisted that we fight every single day. and i'll tell you right now, this community never gave up. and that's that's really what brought him home, that fight. and so i want to thank everyone involved. >> well, thank you so much for joining us. congressman josh gottheimer of new jersey will. be staying in touch as we walk through these these next moments. thank you. good to have you with us. >> it's a great a great day to celebrate. >> absolutely. it really, really is. i want to bring in nbc news chief foreign affairs correspondent andrea mitchell. andrea, what more are you learning about? perhaps the negotiations that happened behind the scenes to lead to this? >> well. >> there's been a. >> lot going. >> on, principally from. >> steve witkoff. >> and his allies and also marco rubio, the secretary of state. >> national security adviser. >> now both. >> both hats trying to get this done. >> and as part. >> of this. >> there's really been a breach. >> that we reported on on nbc

news.com. >> over the weekend. >> my colleagues. >> and i. >> because there's. >> been. a real breach. >> in the last week or two. notable notable week breach between prime minister netanyahu and the trump administration, the president in particular. >> and that's because. >> the president is. >> focusing on getting these hostages out. >> and ending the. >> war in hamas. >> while previously. >> he. >> was very supportive of netanyahu's continuing the war well past his own defense minister. >> at the. >> time, who. >> was fired. >> as a result of it, believed that it was necessary. but at this point, the president's. interest is really in making. >> a deal. >> with iran, which. >> is anathema to netanyahu. >> any kind of deal, any. >> kind of negotiations, direct. >> negotiations. >> which came. >> as a total. >> surprise to him. he was. >> advocating at. >> the same. >> time for military action against iran and came to washington to do that very thing. and it was shocked to hear here in the oval office, the president proposed for the first time. direct u.s.

negotiations. >> with iran, something the biden administration had not achieved. >> in trying to resurrect. >> some kind. >> of nuclear deal. >> which, of course, president. >> trump had gotten. >> out of in 2018. similarly, there has been a new focus. >> on getting these. >> hostages out and ending the. >> war in. >> gaza. >> which goes. against the president's declared interest in rebuilding gaza. if the war. goes on, it will be even more destroyed than it already is. >> it's already a wasteland. >> and recently, as last, a week. ago sunday, the israeli cabinet determined to expand. >> the war in gaza. >> and move more palestinians to the south into. >> a compressed. >> area where. >> they already only have about a third of the strip. it would be maybe a quarter of the strip. and israel is basically reoccupying. >> gaza, which was. >> not the plan from. >> the u.s. >> so those are all the tensions. and also. >> on the hostages. >> i just want. >> to say a word about the other remaining. >> hostage victims, the hostages

believed to have. >> died. >> four in particular americans. they are advocating fiercely witkoff and others are as well. for their bodies to be turned over. and this is a bittersweet. >> moment for them. >> they're very. happy for edan. >> alexander's family, but. >> they are. >> really desperate. >> to. >> have their children. >> returned to them. >> andrea mitchell. thank you so much for bringing us your reporting. we're going to continue to monitor this breaking news, and we'll have more as we learn more and as we see edan alexander, hopefully in just a few moments. up next on ana cabrera reports. we're also keeping track of other breaking news this morning. stocks booming after the u.s. and china reached a temporary thaw in their trade war. will it last? their trade war. will it last? we'll be right ♪ limu emu & doug ♪ [sigh] ok, here's what you want to do. save hundreds when liberty mutual customizes your car insurance. are you a caddy? i'm a doug. and that's a limu.

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♪♪ ♪ (mellow music playing) ♪ a box of childhood treasures. or, a box of... ♪ (upbeat music playing) ♪ “we're turning your childhood bedroom into a home office.” either way, one rate fits all. fedex can ship your packages for less than the post office. more breaking news this hour. green across the board this morning at the stock exchange as the us and china announce a thaw in their global trade war. the two countries agreeing to pause and slash their tit for tat tariffs for at least 90 days while talks continue. here was treasury secretary scott bessent earlier on morning joe. >> we could. >> conceivably away from strategic materials do this together. >> we need more manufacturing. >> they need more consumption. so there is a chance to rebalance together. so we'll see if that's possible.

>> nbc news business and data correspondent brian chung is here for more of this. walk us through this deal and what we know of how negotiations went. >> yeah. this is really more of a pause. >> than it is a. >> deal itself. again, for 90 days they will be lowering the tariffs. so this is a pretty substantial lowering of the temperature between conversations. as we talk about we were talking about 185% tariff that the united states was imposing on china. that is now lowered to 30%. it's a 10% baseline plus a. 20% fentanyl tariffs that we've been hearing from the administration in the early days of this tariff war. and then on the chinese side, they're going to lower their tariffs on u.s. goods going into their country from 125% to just 10%. now, i want to point out that 10% is still higher than we were going into this administration, but nonetheless, that is a substantial lowering of the temperature in conversations here. although the reason why we don't describe this as a deal. there were no concessions between the united states and the chinese in terms of ways to handle non-tariff barriers. or ways that trade is done between these two countries. this is really more of. a table. >> setting.

>> to describe what happens later on down the line. if they can get a deal in the next 90 days. which raises the question, what could happen if we don't have a deal. in 90 days? >> does the. >> tariff. rates just. go right back up? the president answer that question earlier this morning. take a listen. >> if a longer term. deal is not reached with china at the end of these 90 days, can the american. >> people expect those tariffs to. go back up to 145%? >> no. but they would go up substantially higher. you know, the 145. you're really decoupling because nobody's going to buy. but they can go. they got very high because of additional tariffs. i applied during the course because of fentanyl and other things. but no, but they go substantially higher. >> and that's a. big reason why wall street is. >> probably off to the races. >> today, because that 145% is off the table and based off of that sound, appears to be off the table for the time being. of course, naturally, at a 30% tariff rate, that's still pretty substantial cost for american importers. do they still have to pass those costs on to consumers? will they continue to keep orders canceled coming in from china? these are all open

questions. >> and these are the two biggest economies in the world the us and china. what could this negotiation and where it has landed mean for the other trade talks with all the dozens of other countries that have tariffs imposed on them? >> well, i think that. for other countries that are watching what happened with china, they're likely looking into the description from, i believe it was the treasury secretary earlier this morning, as it's not really i believe i forget exactly what word he used to describe it, but it's not necessarily in the cards to lower the tariff rates below 10% on china, something similar was suggested in the uk trade talks, where again, that 10% baseline tariff is still in effect. so for that reason, you do have these questions for other countries. can they get their tariff rates below 10%? it doesn't sound like the administration is open to that. that could be a thorn for other negotiators. >> and that's something we'll watch because that 10%, while it's much lower than 145% or some of these other countries, what they're facing, it's still way higher than what is traditionally been in place. right? >> prior to january 20th, a lot

of countries weren't facing, in some cases, any tariffs at all. so 10% pretty substantial still. >> all right. brian chung as always. thank you. breaking news this morning here in new york. opening statements now underway in the federal sex trafficking case against music mogul sean diddy combs. now, a jury of eight men and four women have been seated. that happened just in the last hour. and they will determine if combs is guilty of utilizing a criminal enterprise to abuse dozens of women and girls over decades. he has pleaded not guilty to all the charges. nbc's yasmin vossoughian joins us from outside court in manhattan. yasmin, walk us through what we're hearing so far in opening statements and what we know about these jurors. >> so you. >> mentioned it. >> ana. >> we have a jury. >> seated now, eight men. >> four women, including six. >> alternates as well, being spoken. >> to now. during opening statements. >> we heard from the. >> prosecution. >> first led by. >> emily johnson. >> laying out. essentially how sean puffy combs. >> engaged in. >> a criminal enterprise and racketeering.

>> talking about his. >> extreme jealousy. >> painting the picture. >> of one night chasing. after his girlfriend of 11 years, who we will likely. >> hear from. >> in the next. >> couple of. >> days. >> as one of the key. >> witnesses for. >> the prosecution, cassie. >> ventura, in which. >> he sought her out. >> after learning that. >> she. >> was dating other men, and then subsequently, what turned. >> into that now infamous video. >> coming out of las. >> vegas in which. >> he dragged her down the hallway towards the elevator in which she was wearing a hoodie. >> and him only in. >> a towel. >> talking about how we'll. >> see. >> that video over and. >> over again. >> that. >> this was a man who. >> was a music mogul. >> but also a serial abuser, a serial sexual assaulter. >> getting cassie ventura. alleging that he was asking. >> cassie ventura repeatedly. >> to. >> engage in. >> sex acts with other. >> individuals as. >> he. watched non-consensual. >> sex acts. >> i should say. >> now we're hearing. >> from opening. >> statements from. >> the defense as. >> well, led. >> by tenny geragos.

>> speaking of how. >> sean puffy combs is a flawed. >> man. >> as he says. >> and that he built this empire, this music empire, dollar at. >> a. >> time and made every. >> dollar himself. >> and yes. >> he is. >> an abuser. >> he does. >> we've seen. >> the video. >> of him. >> abusing, for instance, cassie. >> ventura. >> however. abusing his then girlfriend does not mean that. >> he was. >> engaged in sex. >> trafficking or. >> in racketeering. >> admitting to the fact. >> that he. liked to watch other individuals. engaging in sex or watching. >> his girlfriend. >> engage in sex with other. >> individuals. >> that. >> makes him. >> a. >> flawed man. >> but not making him someone who. >> is. >> engaged in. >> racketeering and sex trafficking. >> so all of. >> this coming out in these. >> opening statements, as we look towards. >> of course, the first witnesses. >> to be called to. >> the stand. >> in the coming days. >> anna. >> okay. and a trial that's expected to last about eight weeks. yasmin vossoughian, thank you for setting the table for us. and that's going to do it for us today. thank you for joining. i'll see you back here

tomorrow. same time, same place. don't forget you can catch our show online, around the clock on youtube and other platforms. for now, i'm ana cabrera, reporting now, i'm ana cabrera, reporting from new york. ♪♪ ♪ hit it! ♪ ♪ (“it takes two” by rob base and dj e-z rock.) ♪ how will earning unlimited cash back make you feel? [card reader beeps] ♪♪ well, a little like this. ♪♪ and like this. ♪♪ it takes two to feel the joy. [card reader beeps] earn unlimited 2% cash back. 1% when you buy, and 1% as you pay with the citi double cash® card. ♪♪ ♪♪ ♪ hit it! ♪ ♪♪ asking the right question can greatly impact your future. - are, are you qualified to do this? - what? - especially when it comes to your finances. - are you a certified financial planner™? - i'm a cfp® professional. - cfp® professionals are committed to acting in your best interest. that's why it's gotta be a cfp®. blink. relief. work.

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alicia simone. how did. >> it go? >> watching it, it. >> seemed to me like. >> it. >> went fantastic. >> how you. >> guys feeling? >> we feel like we're going to let michael steele. >> come back tomorrow. >> yeah, i'll be back. >> it was a. >> question at the top, rachel. >> but we. >> we. >> made it through. >> i very rarely get to. >> say like, welcome. >> to prime. >> time, but welcome to. >> freaking prime time. >> it is fantastic. >> you guys. >> starting with a. >> two hour gig. >> on. >> a monday is. >> no easy lift. >> good day. i'm chris jansing, live at. msnbc headquarters in new york. >> city. >> the last living american hostage in gaza. >> finally coming home. >> les