so, what i think may actually be going on here, there was a really interesting filing during the course of this trial, where essentially the prosecutor said, yes, that stormy daniels testimony was cringe, there was a lot of detail there, but we didn't even get to the most embarrassing stuff. we were restrained when we put her on the stand. and so there's a filing, a report under seal, that has all that embarrassing detail, and i guess that is maybe what donald trump does not want stormy daniels to talk about. >> interesting. thank you so much, kristy greenberg, for helping us parse through that. to an update, an israeli official saying yahya sinwar has likely been killed. dna tests are being done on the body of one of three terrorists killed in gaza. they expect results within

hours. the israeli official says the man they believe is sinwar was killed in a heavy gun battle and there were no hostages near him. that's going to do it for us today. i'm ana cabrera reporting from new york. jose diaz-balart picks up our breaking news coverage right now. good morning. 11:00 a.m. eastern, 8:00 a.m. eastern. we begin with breaking news out of the middle east. israeli officials are awaiting dna confirmation of the possible death of yahya sinwar, the head of hamas. the white house says president biden en route to berlin, germany, has been briefed on sinwar's possible death. the national security council deferring all details on the strike to israeli officials. joining us now, nbc news correspondent, erin mclaughlin in tel aviv, and chief correspondent richard engel is on the phone, chris o'leary, senior vice president for global operations and former director

of hostage recovery for the u.s. government. what do we know out of israel at this hour? >> reporter: well, jose, the israeli military has long referred to yahya sinwar as a dead man walking, and now this hour an israeli official tells nbc news it was very likely that he was killed according to a source, it happened in an operation that took place yesterday. there was heavy gunfire exchanged, serious gunfire in the words of this source. today, they discovered the body, that body has now been sent for dna tests. we are waiting for final confirmation. but, again, this israeli official is saying that it was, quote, very likely that it was him. as i said, this has been long sought after by israeli military and political leaders, the death of yahya sinwar, and we have heard from the israeli defense minister in a rather cryptic

tweet on x, saying, quote, chase the enemy and they will fall upon your sword, quoting leviticus 26, saying we will reach every terrorist and eliminate him. again, we are waiting for final confirmation that the leader of hamas is dead, jose. >> i mean, richard, this was definitely on the israeli's top as far as who they want to target. talk to us about who sinwar is or was, and his significance. >> so, yahya sinwar is believed to be the mastermind of the october 7th attacks and israel vowed to kill him. in many ways, this was a personal, and has always been a personal fight between netanyahu, the people of israel, hamas and yahya sinwar. and the numerous attempts to reach a cease-fire, according to negotiators i speak with directly, is because of the

sinwar and netanyahu. so if it is, in fact, confirmed that he was killed in a gun fight in southern gaza, in the city of rafah, if that is, in fact, true, it could potentially be an opening because he would have to be replaced. the hamas leadership is in a state of disarray. his replacement could be someone who is more amenable toward cease talks. or it could provide prime minister netanyahu with an opportunity to soften his stance and pull back somewhat. that has not been what israel has been doing in the last several weeks. they've been pushing hard in gaza, pushing hard in lebanon. as we saw in lebanon, by decapitating the leadership, israel was able to knock hezbollah down several notches. that could also be the case with the death of sinwar for hamas and gaza. >> chris, just thinking this would be such a significant

strike, not only to hamas, but to the middle east region as a whole. sinwar was the number one target by israel in so many ways. chris, what's the significance and what's the message? >> i think the significance can't be overstated. i think both erin and richard touched on it. sinwar was the leader of hamas for a long time now, and, you know, showed their strength and commitment to their nationalistic cause, and the mastermind of october 7th. so, the significance is this gives israel a real victory here, and between this and the taking out of nasrallah and the attack, it gives them strength to negotiate effectively and also puts a spin on their

victimization from last year on october 7th. they're now in a position of strength. so it really changes the dynamic of them being victims of terrorism and them being the hunters now. and, you know, perhaps it will soften the stance of prime minister netanyahu and maybe be a little more amenable to some kind of negotiated truce, because they're negotiating from a position of strength at this point. >> erin, how is this playing in israel today? >> reporter: you know, jose, i have been texting and speaking with family members of former hostages, as well as family members of hostages still inside of gaza. i was texting with thomas hand, his 9-year-old daughter, emily, had been kidnapped on october 7th, brought to gaza, and then was released as part of the first hostage deal. let me just read you what he had to say over text about this development. he says, quote, i hope that his

personal reign of terror has ended. i know that they will have many more to fill his shoes. i hope that this heavy blow to their command structure will help bring an end to this terrible war. perhaps they will feel weakened enough to come to the table and finally make a serious deal to end this war. i was also speaking with a lady, her father-in-law, an 84-year-old, was kidnapped and taken into gaza, still thought to be there. she was telling me she's extremely concerned. she is worried about her father-in-law and the possibility that hamas could seek revenge with the hostages, the 101 hostages still thought to be in gaza right now, jose. >> richard, i just keep thinking about your deep, profound knowledge of the region and of the organizations and of the players that have had an impact

on this for so many years. what are you thinking right now, if sinwar is, indeed, dead? >> maybe it's a chance to de-escalate. we will see. leaders do matter in organizations. leaders mattered, as we've seen, in hezbollah with the death of nasrallah. it dealt a serious blow to the organization. sinwar's leadership matters in gaza. negotiators were not able to make decisions without him. sinwar didn't use cell phones, only communicated directly through a handful of personal contacts and attendants. it made communications with him extraordinarily slow, extraordinarily difficult. the israelis thought they killed him several times before, or that he died, perhaps injured in another attack that they didn't realize because he would disappear for long periods. they believed that they saw him or saw evidence that he had been

someplace when israeli troops found bodies of six hostages who had been executed. that was in rafah, an area that i've been to, i was taken there by the israeli military. it is completely destroyed. there is not a single building standing. it looked like a ghost town. the only sign of life we saw there, except for the soldiers with us, were some stray animals climbing over the rubble. if he managed to stay in that area at that stage, it would have been with a very small group of people, likely trying to survive, because transport in and out of there was difficult. it was completely occupied by roving israeli troops. so if, in fact, there are reports suggesting he was killed in that same neighborhood, it would suggest that he had limited ability to move, that his leadership role was coming to an end, anyway, that the group was suffering a degree of division and fracture because of

the ongoing assault, all of which is going to be much worse now if it's, in fact, confirmed that sinwar is dead. it will be a blow to hamas, a morale blow, a leadership blow, and obviously a big boost for israel and prime minister netanyahu. >> and so, chris, if there is that big blow against hamas, what possibilities, hope can there be that hamas can sit down on the negotiating table in qatar or anywhere else and hammer out a cease-fire deal? >> i think the opportunity is open, but it really is dependent on who ascends to the leadership position. there are a few likely candidates, but one of them is mohammed sinwar, his brother, 13 years his junior, who is equally committed and arguably more violent in many ways. you know, the concern about

yahya sinwar was he really understood the value of holding hostages and, you know, one of the reasons he wasn't ever likely going to turn them all back over, because the beverage that they provided and they gave him the opportunity to maybe survive this war. his brother knows that just as well. his brother was the chief architect back in 2006, which ultimately led to the release of yahya sinwar. so, i think it all depends on who ascends to the throne of hamas who will then be also public enemy number one for israel and they'll start targeting that individual. >> richard -- -- i was just thinking, the brother is there. we don't know who the other two people that were killed along with, if it is confirmed that it is sinwar who was killed yesterday in this fire fight,

this battle that erin tells us was, indeed, very intense. what is the process for these organizations that are literally underground to come out -- >> literally underground is a surprising thing out of all of this. most intelligence estimates that i read or heard about suggested that one of the reasons that sinwar was so difficult to reach, that he often dropped out of communications, is that he was hiding in tunnels and had gone to ground and was waiting for the war to escalate, that the war moving into lebanon would draw forces away from gaza, would split the israeli military to a northern and southern front, and that that would give him and hamas more freedom to move and operate. that was the thinking from the intelligence reports that i read. but the fact that he apparently

was killed wearing, in the pictures i've seen -- again, not confirmed until we get the official confirmation. but the pictures circulating online that look like him, shows him wearing a military-style jacket in a gun fight in a building above ground with, apparently, two other militants by his side. that suggests someone who was not a mastermind hiding in a bunker, but someone who was in the fight, in the later stages of a fight, engaging directly in gun battles, someone who had transitioned from leader to soldier, to someone potentially fighting for his life. >> chris, with every action comes reaction. it is the natural course of things, unfortunately in this case. what do you see as the reaction, chris? >> i think one of the things that i would be concerned about is some action against some of the hostages to get some retribution. there is concern that the six hostages that were found just a

few weeks ago, that they were deliberately killed to send a message, because they are currency for hamas. so they could be used in such a manner now, and that would be a concern. i think the other issue is, you know, a broader regional conflict, as richard talked about, this did not have the effect that hamas hoped that if israel broadened the war and went to the north and had to address some of the issues with iran and the other surrogates in yemen and iraq, that it would give them some freedom of movement and some latitude to do more in gaza. that hasn't happened. so, what does hamas do to try to regain some control and leverage? will they look to carry out some other kind of attack if they have it within their capabilities? i do think we'll know within the next few hours if this is yahya

sinwar. israel has all of his biometrics from his previous detention. they likely have the biometrics of the other two individuals that would have been with him when he was killed. so, i think we'll know pretty quickly, and then they are likely doing rapid dna as well, which will give you positive identification, for sure. >> erin mclaughlin, richard engel and chris o'leary, thank you so much. stay with us as we have more confirmation or not of what an israeli official tells nbc news is the very likely death of yahya sinwar, the mastermind of the october 7th massacre in israel. we're back in 90 seconds. sed. futures don't sleep in the after hours, bro. dad, is mommy a “finance bro?” she switched careers to make money for your weddings. ooh! penny stocks are blowing up. sweetie, grab your piggy bank, we're going all in. let me ask you. for your wedding, do you want a gazebo and a river? uh, i don't... what's a gazebo?

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breztri may increase your risk of thrush, pneumonia, and osteoporosis. call your doctor if worsened breathing, chest pain, mouth or tongue swelling, problems urinating, vision changes, or eye pain occur. ask your doctor about breztri. 16 past the hour. we're back with our breaking news. an israeli official tells nbc news that a heavy gun battle took place yesterday, very likely killing the leader of hamas and the architect of the october 7th massacre. yahya sinwar. the official said dna testing is happening right now to confirm his identity. i want to bring in joel reuben, former deputy assistant of state. i just want your reaction to this news that it looks probable that sinwar is dead. >> well, jose, this was israel's

osama bin ladin. one can't help but have an emotional reaction to this. this is a man who masterminded the bloody assault on october 7th. this is a man whose vision for the middle east was war and fire and destruction of israel and pulling in lebanon and pulling in iran and trying to create chaos, and, frankly, hell for the region. this is a man who kicked off a war that has cost thousands of palestinian lives and the destruction of much of gaza. so if this is verified, and it appears that it is, this is a new day, a good new day. it opens up a lot of new questions, a lot of questions about change of command, about how will hamas react. will it surrender, will it say, we have no leader? i'll mention this, it's very important, sinwar is not just the military leader of hamas in gaza, he's also the political leader. he got that after the assassination of haniyeh.

so, this is a decapitation of hamas at the highest level and we are going to have a new day. but this is a significant and important milestone. >> joel, you know, there is no doubt that leaders matter, right? but with the decapitation of hamas leadership, there's also the death of countless thousands of people in gaza in, for example, rafah, where so many of these battles have been carried out and where the hostages are, no doubt, some, maybe all, being held in that area. but, when you decapitate the leadership and at the same time there is so much destruction, isn't it natural for those that come up afterwards to be more radicalized, even more intent on causing death, grief and

destruction? >> well, you know, jose, nothing is automatic in these kinds of scenarios. it does not mean -- there is no guarantee that because sinwar is gone that there is an automatic next person in line who will have the ability to communicate and lead. sinwar was a unique figure inside of gaza. he held control over a guerrilla set of activities for the past year. so, who is going to fill those shoes when they don't have the ability to communicate, when they're spread out, is not a very straight line. and i think this is a window, this is an opportunity. what this does mean is that on the ground, the israeli defense forces are going to have to look around and try to find hostages, quite frankly, and see if there are other ways to get into the thought process of hamas militants who may now be freer

and may be willing to turn in hostages, to not get killed for this diabolical war that is ending nowhere good for them. i do want to mention to your point, the destruction of gaza, the deaths of the palestinians in gaza, it's a horrifying number, it's a horrifying humanitarian catastrophe, and this is something that sinwar did not care about. let's just be very clear. this is a situation that he kicked off a year ago and this is a situation that he never agreed to have a cease-fire or to stop and try to change what's happening on the ground. well, maybe now we have that chance. and it is not clear at all who is going to take the reins on the ground in gaza at this moment. >> and, joel, just finally, you know, the world has been so deliberate on insisting that israel pull back from rafah, that they don't go in to rafah,

that they don't do what they have been doing for a year now since that massacre. i'm just wondering, what's the message here? and i think, what does this tell you about the israelis? >> well, you know, quite bluntly, jose, it tells you the israelis knew that rafah was the center point of hamas activity. hostages were found there and identifying and finding sinwar there and other leading militants there, the israelis have found. but they also were supported by the united states and by israeli allies in this fight. the pullback was on rafah, to make sure it was done in a targeted manner, where soldiers would go in and target and not drop 2,000 pound bombs. that was the right call. it may have led to the operation we just saw unfold and that we're talking about right now, which is dropping those 2,000

pound bombs may very well have incinerated and eviscerated the possibility of knowing if it was sinwar. and so, let's be blunt, the israeli defense forces have conducted this operation, they know rafah is where the central node is, and i think they've been doing it with american support, biden-harris strong support, and doing it in a way that does not eliminate and eviscerate the entirety of rafah and takes care as much of possible of the humanitarian concerns. >> joel reuben, always a pleasure. i thank you very much. i want to bring in john spencer from the modern war institute. john, thank you for being with us this morning. sinwar was believed to be in hiding in gaza's tunnels. i know you've been in some of those tunnels. what are they like? >> i mean, it's the worst environment you would ever want to be in. and the fact that he has living like a rat in them for 12 months, when i was in those tunnels from december and even in july, it was just the feeling

of what the hostages are going through this whole time, as we've been watching this unfold on our tv screens day to day. but i think this is -- this could be the beginning of the end. getting those responsible for october 7th, the hamas senior leadership, the mastermind of the attack, and vowing to continue the attacks is very important, to strategically be able to see an end to this, as you were just talking about. so, i think if this is true, it's massive, the turning point. >> i was thinking about the mother of hersh golden poland, who was talking about how her son had his arm -- one of the arms was literally blown off during the october 7th massacre when hamas took him, that he --

essentially had lost most of his body weight. i'm just thinking, that's the life in these tunnels for the hostages. >> absolutely. as somebody who understands underground warfare, the psychological trauma of being underground with no lights, breathing in -- there were bottles that they were urinating and buckets they were having to go to the bathroom in, living on top of each other. it's inhumane, it's disgusting that it's continued this long. so, this should be a call from the global community to let them go now, and especially this turning point. yahya sinwar was one of the persons who refused the cease-fire deals, no matter what israel agreed to. so it's both a promising day, but also an understanding of what these hostages are going through in those tunnels. to include americans. >> yeah, goldberg-poland as one

of those, and there are still 100 plus hostages that we know not of their fate. i'm just wondering, what do you think -- and it was interesting to hear, just having this conversation this hour, how in some ways sinwar could be considered the israeli version of osama bin ladin's threats, in the sense that for israel, you know, sinwar was essentially the osama bin ladin. what is the significance of the fact that he may have very well been killed? >> it's huge. and i agree that that's a really good analogy, the idea that al queda existed beyond, but the nation that did the horrific

attack of 9/11, and this the horrific attack of october 7th. there is a strategic element of that for a nation to even be able to proceed forward, even start the healing process, to know that this person who did this attack, who masterminded it all, was still existing in gaza, using his own population as human sacrifices. rafah and the humanitarian zone, shielding themselves. i think it's an immense closure, if true. but, also, for me as somebody who studies war and the strategy of where this is going, what's next, that it could be a massive turning point for israel and for helping the palestinian people who are suffering under hamas' evil rule. >> how? i mean, what is there in all of this to give you the hope that anything positive could come from this, when we're talking

about an organization that in its creating documents, right -- it was changed later, but in its creating documents, talked about the elimination of israel and the elimination of jews. >> yeah, so that's -- i 100% agree with you, this is the recognition that strategically, hamas could not be allowed to survive in any form, militarily with the ability to harm israel, and that's pretty much been taken from them. but the elimination of this top tier hierarchy of this radical death cult is the fact that you can have other local palestinian leaders who say, we don't want this anymore, we actually do want progress for our people. and the de-radicalization can begin and the establishment of a new government can begin. so i think it is a sign of hope that there can be something else other than hamas in gaza.

the idea will still always be there, and there are evil ideas all around the world, still, but they don't have military power and political power over a territory, over a people. this could lead to a much better situation, even for the palestinian people, who are suffering under hamas' use of them as human sacrifices. >> yeah, but, john, let's not forget that the biggest sponsor of all of this is not there. it's not in rafah, it's not in gaza, it's not in hezbollah, it's not in lebanon. it's in tehran and the regime there since 1979. >> 100%. the islamic regime in iran is the head of the octopus, no matter what religion, shia versus sunni, that has to be dealt with. the foreign policy insanity of giving them money hoping they'll change their ways. but i think israel with the united states' assistance, by the way, is doing massive

efforts to change this whole framework that has been allowed to go on for decades. the fact that hezbollah is being pushed back, that it has been dismembered as well. the houthis, they were just attacked. this is a situation that has been created by a lot of nations. if the islamic regime doesn't change its behavior of using proxies to attack israel and the united states and the global shipping lanes, everything, then, yes, this cycle of violence will continue. but taking hamas, taking hezbollah off their toolset is a part of the process. >> john spencer, i thank you very much. appreciate your time. joining us now, nbc's white house correspondent, allie raffa. good morning. >> reporter: we're told by unofficial that president biden has been briefed on the possible death of sinwar while he is

currently en route on air force 1 to berlin, germany, where he is going to meet with leaders tomorrow. one of the topics on the agenda when he does meet the leaders are the tensions in the middle east. there are certainly new developments to discuss when he does meet with them. we're told u.s. and israeli officials have been in close contact throughout the day, talking about this, as israeli officials await confirmation of sinwar's death from dna testing. and we heard from national security council spokesperson john kirby this morning saying that the u.s. is aware that israel may have conducted this assassination of sinwar, but that he was not able to independently confirm that. but we do expect to hear more about this when national security adviser jake sullivan briefs reporters on air force 1 during this trip to berlin. we still don't have any timing updates on when that will actually happen. but we're learning more just in the last few minutes from my

colleagues, courtney kube and monica alba, about the role the u.s. played in this, with officials saying the israelis informed them that the mission seems to have killed sinwar. they were informed yesterday. and in addition to those dna tests that i spoke with, the idf is also doing facial recognition tests via photos to verify sinwar's identity. we're told that the u.s. was not involved in this operation, that it didn't provide any specific intelligence to the israelis that brought this strike against sinwar. but we do know that as recently as last week, u.s. officials had intelligence proving that he was still within the tunnels underneath gaza among the remaining israeli hostages, jose. and so, we expect to learn more about what the u.s. knows, any sort of next steps when jake sullivan briefs reporters. but, no matter what the confirmation is, if this is confirmed, this is a huge shift

for these rising tensions in the middle east. and, remember, the president has said that one of his biggest goals in his last few months in office is to end the israel/hamas war and achieve the cease-fire deal and the release of those hostages. so, how this all fits into that effort and that goal still remains to be seen, jose. >> allie raffa at the white house, thank you very much. please stay with us as we follow this breaking news story. we'll get an update in just a couple of minutes from a former israeli government spokesperson. plus, we're just 19 days away from the presidential election here at home. we've got confrontational interview between vice president harris and fox news. and former president trump's interview with univision. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. ne advantage plan. humana has plans that can enhance your life in so many ways. it starts with peace of mind. humana's medicare

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36 past the hour. we are now just 19 days away from the election, and the stakes could not be higher for these presidential campaigns, with candidates from both tickets on the road making their final pitch to voters. the former president will be speaking at a dinner that benefits catholic charities tonight in new york. the vice president is making three stops in battleground wisconsin. j.d. vance is in pennsylvania. tim walz in north carolina. it comes after both presidential nominees made high-profile national media appearances yesterday. trump participated in a town hall with univision. more on that later. but the vice president sat down with fox news for her first interview with that network. >> why, if he's as bad as you say, that half of this country is now supporting this person who could be the 47th president of the united states? why is that happening? >> this is an election for president of the united states. it's not supposed to be easy. >> i know, but -- >> it's not supposed to be -- it

is not supposed to be a cake walk for anyone. >> so the 50%, are they stupid? >> oh, god, i would never say that about the american people. he's the one that talks about an enemy within, an enemy within, talking about the american people, suggesting he would turn the american military on the american people. >> joining us now, nbc news correspondent julie tsirkin in green bay. how does the harris campaign think she did yesterday? >> reporter: jose, good morning. she is continuing her battleground campaign blitz, having three stops in wisconsin today. look, the harris team is really happy with her performance yesterday on fox news. they know she was walking into the lion's den, so to speak. they know it was a tough interview. they said in a statement, we definitely achieved what we set out to achieve. they continued in the sense that harris was able to reach an audience that has probably not been exposed to the arguments

she's been making on the trail and she got to show toughness in standing tall against a hostile interviewer. of course, harris answered questions on topics from the border, sometimes side-stepping them, focusing on the former president instead. trying to widen her reach, eat into some of those margins that trump perhaps is getting with republicans, with moderate voters. trying to flip some republicans to her corner, maybe those who are hesitant about supporting the former president. now, that is obvious, because like i said, she has three stops here in wisconsin today. two of them first where she's joined by mark cuban. then she will come to green bay. this area was very pivotal for president biden back in 2020. he beat donald trump in wisconsin by less than a percentage point. you see all those stops on your screen there. so certainly this is an area of the country that harris feels like she needs to appeal to as we're 19 days out from the election here. >> julie tsirkin, thank you so much very. joining us now, an msnbc political analyst, also the

author of the forthcoming book "a more perfect party" and also congressman from florida, also an msnbc political analyst. bonita, this is the first real confrontational interview the vice president has had since she launched her presidential campaign. what do you see is the cost and the benefit of this interview? >> i feel like the primary benefit is twofold. one, making trump look weak, and, two, expanding her coalition, which we know she has been welcoming republicans and independents into. so by going on this platform that is contentious, she was able to show her toughness, hold her own and declare a series of positions that this audience probably hasn't heard before. i do think that there is concern, that some would say, this is not how she should be using the last two weeks of her campaign. i think it goes back to the point, she needs a broad coalition of support and able to have electoral success and get

to 270. and so by doing that interview, she showed up, and she did well. she was able to hit donald trump in key areas, especially on substance and the democracy. i appreciate the clip you played in your opening, jose, because it showed how harris wouldn't allow the interviewer to interrupt her or cut her off. but she emphasized trump's own words on a platform that tends to only tell a part of the story. and so by doing that, she's able to make it very clear about the differences between her candidacy and how she would lead as president compared to donald trump, and that was critical for this audience. >> yeah, i mean, carlos, last night's interview with fox news began with immigration, the vice president was asked about the three young women that were killed, allegedly, by recently arrived migrants. here is a part of that question and answer. >> this is well before any negotiation. this is well before donald trump got involved in the politics. this is a specific policy

decision by your administration to release these men into the country. so what i'm saying to you -- >> no, no, no, i think it's really -- >> do you owe these families an apology? >> let me say, first of all, those are tragic cases. there's no question about that. it is also true that if our border patrol security bill had been passed nine months ago, it would be nine months that we would have had more border agents at the border, more support for the folks who are working around the clock trying to hold it altogether. >> madam vice president -- >> to ensure that no future harm would occur. >> carlos, there's that border bill back in to everything that, i guess, the presidential people talk about from now until 19 days. but, how was she able to -- or does she need to navigate the balance of the human cost versus

the politics of this? >> it's very tough, jose, because i think the vice president has a good answer for the last six months, right, when senate republicans and democrats did come together with a compromise bill. >> and trump killed it. >> correct. and certainly there are some points for democrats to score there. now, the three years before that, and you heard bret baier going back to the three years before that, that's very difficult for vice president harris and democrats to explain. so, look, i give her credit for sitting down in such a tough environment. this was, by far, the toughest interview that she has had, maybe in her career. for people who watched the interview, i think they probably have some mixed feelings about it. but i think the headline is valuable, the fact that kamala harris was willing to go and sit down with fox news. most people that hear about it didn't watch the interview, and i think they will be impressed by that. but, no doubt, it was a tough interview. and, of course, they led with

immigration, which is the toughest issue for democrats when you look at the polling. >> and the other one that was kind of -- well, contentious, was the moment when the vice president was asked about president biden's mental faculties. watch this. >> madam vice president, you called donald trump -- >> let's not diminish the significance of that. >> you called donald trump, he's misguided, you say now -- >> he's unstable, bret. >> he's not well, you say he's mentally not stable. >> he's not stable. >> let me ask you this, you told many interviewers that joe biden was on his game, that ran circles around his staff. when did you first notice that president biden's mental faculties appeared diminished? >> joe biden, i have watched from the oval office to the situation room, and he has the judgment and the experience to do exactly what he has done in

making very important decisions on behalf of the american people. >> no concerns raised? >> joe biden is not on the ballot. >> i understand. >> and donald trump is. >> carlos, that whole issue of joe biden, who the vice president underlined is not on the ballot today, republicans have been repeating this issue over and over again during this process, the election process, even after the president, you know, stepped back. did she clarify it? >> jose, again, this, like immigration, is a very tough issue because we do remember a few months back when democrats were all on message saying that joe biden was at the top of his game, that he was as clear as ever, and then there was that debate. and i think most americans who watched that debate concluded that joe biden had slowed down a bit, to put it kindly, right? but that's something that's very difficult for vice president harris to get into, so she had to kind of avoid that question and focus on donald trump.

and, look, that's fair, because she is running against donald trump. but all of us who have been in the political arena know that we have to -- we'll be held accountable for everything we said. and for a long time democrats did say that joe biden was in perfect condition. i think a lot of americans concluded that wasn't true after watching that first debate of this cycle. >> our thanks. don't go anywhere, because we're going to talk about something else that happened yesterday, former president trump took questions from latino voters in an hour-long town hall hosted by uni vision. he faced pointed questions about the economy, immigration, january 6th, abortion, and other key issues. joining us now, msnbc contributor, still with us, carlos. the first couple of questions focused on jobs and the economy. here is a question from a recent college grad to the former president.

>> how do you plan to create real job opportunities for recent grads like myself? >> we are going to bring companies in through a system of taxes, positive -- we call it positive taxation. we are going to bring companies in at a level that you've never seen in this country before. i was doing it in my administration, and then what we did -- and nobody has ever seen what we're doing, a combination of taxes, tariffs, and incentives. >> this is such an important issue for everybody. do you think, carlos, trump was able to give a clear and succinct answer to this question? >> no, on the contrary, i think this was fairly incoherent. and just like vice president harris went for the headline of having sat down with fox news, i think donald trump went for the headline of having gone to univision for a town hall meeting. but for people who actually watched it, i don't think they were very impressed. and it's not the best setting for the former president, jose. those town halls, the

interactions are very human. it's not like sitting down with an interviewer that you can just start sparring with. you really don't want to do that with ordinary people. and the former president got some very human questions about immigration, about this issue, student loans, about january 6th. and he essentially doubled down on some of the untruths that he's told in the past and really failed to connect with the people who participated in that town hall. so, again, i think like vice president harris, maybe he gets some credit for showing up in a setting that probably isn't the most favorable for him. but i don't think his performance was anything to celebrate. >> trump was also asked about his calls to deport millions of migrants. take a listen to this.

>> if you deport these people, who would do that job, and what price would we pay for food? >> under my administration, farmers did very well. we have to have a lot of people come into our country. we just want them to come in legally, through a system. because they've released hundreds of thousands of people that are murderers, drug dealers, terrorists. they're coming in totally, nobody knows who they are, where they come from. and the people that are most against it are the hispanic people. >>, you know, they talked all kinds of issues, but not once during this town hall did trump even mention his so often repeated plan for, quote, the largest domestic deportation operation in history. >> he didn't have to, jose. i think the way that he answered says everything. i think that was the key moment in that town hall. the question that every american

has to visualize, which is the following, what will happen if donald trump deports millions of undocumented farmworkers. he didn't give you an answer but it forces us to realize the reality. the truth is the following, over 50% of farmworkers in this country are undocumented. that means that there are millions and millions of immigrants that every single day are feeding this country. if donald trump deports farmworkers, it wouldn't just cost billions of dollars. it would also reduce this country's gdp by over 6%. and so i think that moment sort of exposes that donald trump has a complete inability, jose, to humanize others. but more than anything, the threat is that, the threat is that he is capable of destroying this country's food and supply chain. he's capable of destroying this country's economy. he's capable of just doing the most human thing in this role, which is allowing people to have the dignity and integrity, and he didn't show that yesterday.

>> thank you both so very much. appreciate it. up next, we continue to follow breaking news, what could be a major development in israel's war against hamas. we're awaiting confirmation of the potential death of hamas leader yahya sinwar, the mastermind of the october 7th massacre. we'll talk to a former israeli government spokesperson next. you're watching "jose diaz-balart reports" on msnbc. 1 gram sugar and a protein blend to feed muscles up to 7 hours. ♪♪ ah, these bills are crazy. she has no idea she's sitting on a goldmine. well she doesn't know that if she owns a life insurance policy of $100,000 or more she can sell all or part of it to coventry for cash. even a term policy. even a term policy? even a term policy! find out if you're sitting on a goldmine. call coventry direct today at the number on your screen, or visit coventrydirect.com.

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52 past the hour. to breaking news. israeli officials are awaiting dna testing results to confirm whether sinwar was killed many gaza. joining us now is keir simmons. what do we know right now? >> we are waiting for the israelis to confirm it is sinwar. there have been reports earlier that he had been killed. you want to take a breath and wait for confirmation. it's reported by israeli media that it is him. there's silence where i am, jose, in the arab world, the gulf region from governments here, which speaks volumes about the importance of this and also the potential that this is the case, that sinwar has been killed. it would be a massive blow for hamas. he is the military leader of hamas. recent reports suggested that

internal documents from hamas portrayed him over the past -- over two years planning october 7th and trying to hide it by even scaling down hamas activities in order to give the israelis the impression they weren't going to do anything until, of course, tragically they were. he was absolutely the mastermind behind october 7. after the death -- he was the leader of the military but also the political wing. he had an iron grip on hamas and communication with the outside world for hamas' policies. how he did that, reports said, was by handwritten notes through couriers so israel wasn't able to find him. it looks as if they found him. in a sense, that paints a picture of a man, despite the

role he was playing, in a corner trying to communicate while trying to hide. >> i'm wondering, because there is -- if this is confirmed, the death of the leader of an organization, but in many ways, especially outside in the region where you are, this could be a very powerful message. what is that message if this is, indeed, confirmed? >> yeah. i think it's a powerful message just the simply fact of it. right? going back to the early on in this campaign by israel, there were reports that sinwar got more careful. the hamas leaders got more careful. that sense, there's a victory for israel. i think beyond that though, i do

think it's important to take one step at a time in terms of what this means, whether it will change hamas' policy, whether it will lead to a shift, whether it will mean -- whether sinwar was blocking in some ways negotiations or standing firm some might describe it as, and that now hamas' approach will shift, we have to wait for the evidence of that. we have to wait to see. there have been continuing talks over whether -- how to get to an end to fighting in gaza. maybe what might have happened with sinwar now will be a moment in that history. but for now, we wait for the news of whether he is, indeed, dead. >> keir simmons, thank you very much. a pleasure to see you. joining us now, retired colonel and former israeli government spokes america,

mary, thank you for being with us. if this is confirmed, how significant would this be? >> i want to mention 101 people. 101 hostages who were brutally taken on october 7. sinwar masterminded the taking of over 250 israeli hostages. sinwar was the one who for years before october 7th thought it up. can you imagine sitting down and planning the type of heinous attack that was executed on october 7th? his going gives an opportunity. it's going to be a hope, but i'm going to say an opportunity that the 101 israelis -- i say 101 israelis, not israelis, i don't know if that's the right number, hamas under sinwar never told us who was taken, what the situation is, where they are. he is the one there who has been the hard-liner the whole time.

we are blamed for not bringing back hostages. this is the israel-hamas war. this is a war hamas started by sinwar. what i want in this opportunity is to bring 101 hostages home, perhaps whoever steps in that -- there are lots who can step into that position, will be able to arrive at a resolution to what is the core issue, 101 people. >> looking at this last year, looking back at this last year and the significance of sinwar in what happened october 7 and what has been happening for years there -- let's not forget sinwar joined hamas in the '80s when the charter of hamas called for the elimination of the state of israel but also for jews. what is the message you think in all of this if it is confirmed that he was killed? >> i'm going to be -- hamas is

not going to disappear. that's one of the things that constantly is the biggest challenge for me is that, why aren't people talking about what you just mentioned? their charter. they call us pigs, jews, amongst other things in their charter. sinwar was a hard-liner within. there are other hard-liners. he led this militant line, that terrorism could destroy israel. you can take human beings and change the situation, that that will change. i'm going to be real, they will appoint somebody else. he will be the one there. i want to hope right now that this opens the opportunity to at least resolve the issue which at the end is the bleeding issue for israelis. i know in the world everybody is looking at what happened in the gaza strip. my heart goes out to gazans.

sinwar planned it, masterminded it, thought about it and was blocking any possibility to go forward. let's hope whoever comes after him will not be like that. >> i'm thinking, what would be the ideal forward step now that if, indeed, sinwar is no longer the leader of hamas? >> to have a leader who wants to arrive at a resolution, who is willing to negotiate in a rational way, who will bring a proof of life of 101 people or even the proof of death that we have not gotten from october 7th, 2023. colonel, thank you very much for being with us. >> thank you. that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz-balart. thank you for the privilege of your time. andrea mitchell picks up with more news right now.

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