expectations now from the u.s. side? >> yeah. i think the ambassador made very important points and to the israelis, this is the equivalent of getting osama bin laden. this man was responsible for the most horrific moment in the modern history of israel and there's obvious satisfaction in bringing him to justice after just one year after the ten years it took us to catch and kill bin laden. it didn't necessarily mean the end of the struggle, that the killer of the leader as satisfying as it is raises all sorts of questions which the ambassador just referenced. it will mean the end of the war? how did they find a way to move forward? can there be a post-war plan here, all of which is still up in the air. obviously for israel and a lot of palestinians who have suffered in the hands of hamas, this has been obviously an important day. ? thank you so much ambassador pinkus, peter baker, governor

kasich. many thanks to all of you and that does it for this edition of "andrea mitchell reports" chris jansing reports starts right now. >> i'm chris jansing in new york city and we are continuing with the breaking news from overseas. israel now confirming that yahya sinwar mastermind of the october 7th attack is dead. the foreign minister says he was killed by idf. he was hamas' political chief in august after the assassination of his predecessor soon ordering the attacks that would kill 1200 men, women, children including 46 american, but for years he had led the militant's affairs in gaza giving him outside influence. richard engel is nbc chief correspondent. hala gorani reporting from tel aviv. david ignatius is washington post columnist as well as msn

contributor and i'm fortunate to have john brennan, former cia director and msnbc senior national security and intelience analyst. i appreciate all of you being here. richard, we just saw a tweet from the idf. it was short. it was pointed. it said eliminated: yahya sinwar. what do we know about how this came to be? >> so apparently, this was a very routine operation. it was not like the killing of osama bin laden. as far as we know at this stage i'm sure we'll hear more details about how it happened when prime minister netanyahu makes a public announcement, and i have no doubt that he will and probably will do tonight, but from what we understand, it was a fairly routine military operation. the military was sweeping the area. they didn't believe there were any hostages there. it was an area in rafah which was in the southern gaza strip where sinwar had been not spotted, but signs of him had

been found in the past. it's an area where hostages have also been held, an area that i've been to in southern gaza with the idf completely destroyed, and he was in this building above ground, not hiding in a tunnel and that he was with apparently two other militants and he was wearing some sort of military clothing what looks like a green vest with pocket, ammunition pouches in it, and that he was reduced to behaving more like a foot soldier and not necessarily the leader of hamas in the gaza strip or the leader of hamas across -- across the world. he is believed to be the mastermind of the october 7th attacks. number one most wanted person in israel, their equivalent of osama bin laden, and now according to israeli sources, u.s. sources, he's dead. >> hala, what has been the reaction there in israel? do we have a sense more

specifically of when we might hear from prime minister netanyahu? >> we understand that there will be an address at some point this evening by the prime minister. this is an extremely significant event here for this country. he was the most wanted man in israel as richard mentioned, the mastermind of the october 7th attacks and very, very significant, i find, that after persistent reports over the last year that he was using hostages as human shields, that he was deep under ground and that essentially in the end he was perhaps found by accident in a routine operation as richard said and that it was only after the fact, we understand according to israeli reports that he was killed yesterday and after the fact that he was identified. as far as reaction, we have a team in gaza, palestinians and palestinians saying they hope, and this was the most oft repeated sense, they hope this means the end of the war. they got their guy. we hope we can go back to a

situation where we can live in peace. as far as israelis, we have a crew that went to hostage square. this is where friend, family members and supporters of those that were taken hostage by hamas gather, and this is what we heard from them. listen. >> the fact that the man responsible for the massacre is dead, as they say, if he is or not, i'm not sure what does it mean about our hostages and their safety and how many of them are still alive and i am very deeply, deeply concerned. >> and that lady really summed it up. what does it mean for the hostages? what does it mean for a ceasefire deal? both leaders of hamas are dead now. the political leader who was assassinated in tehran. now the military leader who became the head of the political bureau, as well gone. u.n. agency say there is a

breakdown of civil order in gaza and what happens to the hostages and also will the war continue with the intensity with which the idf has been waging it in gaza where almost 45,000 people have been killed in the last year, chris? >> key questions as we wait to hear from benjamin netanyahu. hala, thank you for that. director brennan, there is no doubt that this is significant. there was an expert who called it the most dramatic achievement for israel since october 6th militarily and for the israeli people. we see the folks who are out there in tel aviv. many of them holding signs now calling for a ceasefire deal. put this in the big picture for us in the middle east, what does this mean? >> well it is a major milestone for the israelis. over the past year they have destroyed a lot of hamas' capability, terrorist-making capability and has taken out the battlefield of senior hamas operatives, but they needed to

get the architect of the october 7th attacks and also the person who is in control of hamas' war-making capabilities inside of gaza and he is also the head of the political bureau. so this is a very important step that they've taken and they need to demonstrate to the israeli people and to the world that now they're going to be able to move forward with the path that seeks to bring the bloodshed to a halt. see whether or not this is an opening that prime minister benjamin netanyahu can say. we've achieved almost all of our objectives including hamas' capabilities and we need to find a way forward and we have to see because also it is so dependent on a ceasefire to get the hostages out and we have been stuck on that and yahya sinwar was a major obstacle to it and he refused to negotiate on the engagements and we do have the possibility of some openings here in the future. >> a major contributor to any or

detriment to any possible ceasefire deal, but what about benjamin netanyahu? what do you think his next move is? what do you expect to hear from him perhaps in the next hour or two. i think he's certainly going to applaud the work of the israeli defense forces and the idf in terms of the report and to take yahya sinwar off the battlefield. i think he'll appeal to the palestinian people because yahya sinwar was a brutal and ruthless executioner of palestinians in gaza who were working with the israelis. he had this reputation of doing these very strong torture sessions and executing individuals if they were found to be helping israelis in any way. he was an obstacle not only in the past year in terms of hostage negotiations and the ceasefire to see whether or not israel and the palestinian people in gaza could, in fact, find a way to move together in peace. >> david, to peck up on what the

director was saying. your paper reminds us that back in 1989 when yahya sinwar was the internal enforcer for hamas, he was being interrogated and they forced a hamas fighter to bury his brother alive. fast forward, hersh was on his knees trying to shield himself with his one hand. talk about that level of ruthlessness and where it comes from. >> yahya sinwar's level of violence reminds me of the islamic state, almost theater of cruelty in the way he punished palestinian enemies and he buried one alive as he said. he is said to have dropped boiling oil on others and he was a harsh, cruel man, and i think that's one reason that his death

is such an important, symbolic moment of israel and prime minister netanyahu will soon be on television saying we have -- we have done what we promised. the architect of october 7th has been killed. whether beyond the symbolism this means an end or the beginning of the end in the war on gaza, we just can't say. we don't know how hamas or the people of gaza will respond. we don't know how iran will respond. yahya sinwar was their key proxy was communicating with iran. we now know about his hopes for overturning israel, so i think there are many, many questions ahead. he was an extraordinary leader and this is a symbolic victory and very important tactically. he ran this war. he conducted a masterful campaign to deceive and hide the intensions of hamas for several years before october 7th,

pretending that hamas had peaceful intentions and tricking the israeli intelligence services arguably among the best in the world into believing that hamas didn't want war right up to the hours before hamas broke through the fence from gaza. so today is a huge day and there are things i'll be watching and the whole world will be. >> obviously, the intelligence services and benjamin netanyahu himself took an enormous hit after october 7th and we were speaking before we went on the air here about what you have seen as somebody who is a former cia director from the intel sdwrens from then until now, more than a year later. what is the status as you see it now that might be different of israeli intelligence? >> clearly, it was an abysmal intelligence failure that led to the october 7th attacks and over

the past year i think the israeli intelligence has enhanced their capabilities and efforts to get a better sense of where these senior leaders are. we saw what happened in lebanon in terms of being able to identify where he was in terms of the sophisticated operations with the pagers that exploded. in gaza, i think the israelis had found that all of the tunnel networks in gaza are quite challenging and difficult, but i must say the domestic and the foreign defense forces as well, i think they have shown tremendous capability to bring their capabilities together and to be able to target those individuals as well as those capabilities that pose the most significant threat to the state of israel. >> it doesn't surprise you that first of all, this was part of a routine operation that sinwar was above ground anyway in the first place as i think richard

engel described it reduced to behaving more like a foot soldier. >> as david alluded to, yahya sinwar was a masterful leader in many respects in terms of orchestrating the hamas members, but he was also very, very sophisticated and he understood the israelis. i think he was trying to hide almost in plain sight as far as working with other hamas militants that were on the ground while israelis were pursuing all these different tunnels in this very vast network under ground. >> the fact that he was able to stay alive in the past year demonstrates how crafty and clever he has been and obviously time ran out on him and it seems to be an operation that happened, but also -- it's not like the osama bin laden operation that took years and years of planning and tedious intelligence collection to get, but the symbolism of yahya sinwar's departure was similar

to what happened when osama bin laden was killed. you've taken away the architect of such a heinous attack against the united states and israel and it's going to be in a bit of disarray. there are a lot of extremists within the hamas organization and the israeli intelligence will have to do its work in gaza and how hamas, the organization will be reacting to this death. >> let me ask you about post-death intelligence information gathering, and i should say we have confirmed, my colleague andrea mitchell, has confirmed from a senior israeli official in tel aviv that idf did confirm his death from fingerprints on the body. obviously, we've talked about the fact over the last several hours that sinwar was in an israeli prison and they had a lot of information on him, but there had been previous reports

that he had died and they obviously turned out not to be true. would you imagine by now they have multiple points of information to tell this was yahya sinwar. they wouldn't say it was sinwar if they weren't sure of it and what are they doing now after collecting his body. >> the resemblance was the initial tip-off that they might have killed sinwar. they would need dna and because he was in prin for many years they have a lot of dna and with the body then, it's not just a fingerprint and it's actual dna they can test and have conclusive and be confident that this was, in fact, sinwar. now again what they're going to do with the body, they'll try to respect the islamic customs. whether or not they'll reach back to sinwar's family somehow, but i'm sure they're going to take care of body in the appropriate way. now that they have the confirmation through dna i don't think there's any more proof that they need that sinwar is actually dead. >> so how far, do you think

beyond saying sinwar is dead, we got him and that, frankly, david, this is the work of the idf and this government. how far do you think benjamin netanyahu will go to where this leads the wart and what might come next? >> i think the question for netanyahu is when israel is achieving so much success militarily on so many fronts, today it's killed the architect of october 7, it's decimated the leader of hezbollah which was a threat and it's taken apart the hezbollah arsenal of rockets. it's withstood attacks directly from iran, the organizer in israel's view of all of this

violence. where does israel stop, where do you stop when you are on a roll to use a colloquial phrase and that's one of the things that netanyahu is struggling with. do you keep going even with the risk that that carries on the argument that this is a once-in-a-century opportunity to go after your enemies or do you decide this is it. this is enough. we are now in danger of overreaching. i am still haunted by my own memories of the israeli invasion of beirut in 1982 where i watched where the israelis did overreach and they ended up paying a big price. i'm sure many israelis are thinking of that comparison now, and i think for netanyahu the question is what's the right time to stop? have we achieved enough our operational and tactical goals. >> if you are benjamin netanyahu and have been fighting for a long time to make sure you say

in power, what are the key questions? i mean, is there anything even approaching an easy answer that it's time to stop or the risk is greater if we don't stop? the first thing that we need to put in our minds is what israel felt like in the hours and days after october 7th. it was a shock unlike israel had experienced. israel, the military super power of the middle east had been caught absolutely by surprise. when i visited in the weeks after the attack, i felt a sense of shock from israelis, but also shame that this could have happened. so netanyahu who at that time was really an outcast. in the polls he was very unpopular with israelis has come back as a wartime leader.

in a sense, he's riding that crest, and i think we'll hear that tone in his voice when he speaks later today. again, the question is whether he can think carefully about strategic ends. israel is better at starting wars historically than it is at ending them and that's something that netanyahu should think very carefully about. a famous question that dave petraeus asked on the way to baghdad in 2003. tell me how this ends. so that's the question today that netanyahu should be thinking about. tell me how this ends. is this a moment when i begin to move to the ending. >> richard engle, as someone who has been on the ground for decades and particularly in the last year plus days since the october 7th attack, address that, if you will, about the strategic krrgzs about whether to continue or to stop.

>> well, i agree with david that there is a question whether prime minister netanyahu can take the wind to use orth colloquial expression. he's had success after success after the intelligence failure of october 7th killing nasrallah, the way the missile defense systems in israel with american support worked, not only once, but worked twice to fend off an iranian attack and now killing sinwar. all of this in relatively one after the other, but where does all this go? prime minister netanyahu has never laid out a plan of what comes next in gaza, so this could very well be the death of hamas as we've known it, but what comes after that? to use the osama bin laden analogy. osama bin laden was killed. upon he was a key leader. he was the architect of 9/11. his death did set back al qaeda tremendously, but in this vacuum, isis came up and isis

was brutal and i don't know if kwu can say worse than 9/11, but it was equally aggressive including bataclan attack. so will this blow to -- to -- to hamas and yahya sinwar and the hamas leadership be the death of hamas or will it be the rebirth of something that is pot shally just as radical or even more radical because how do things improve? what is the offramp for gaza? the gaza strip has been devastated. more than 40,000 people killed there and two-thirds of the buildings, i believe, is the latest estimate has been damaged or destroyed and a tremendous amount of misery and suffering and a sense of hopelessness and hopelessness breeds extremism. so this could be very important tactically and very important psychologically for the israeli people. it could have direct consequences and perhaps very

devastating consequences for the hostages. we don't know. we'll have to see on that, but will this be the end of militancy in gaza? i don't believe so by any stretch of the imagination and we still don't know whether this will be an offramp for prime minister netanyahu. will this just be more encouragement that he tps to put push his position when it comes to iran. >> i want to bring in -- officials condition firmed finger prints that came back. as director brennan had suggested, dna is very likely from his time in an israeli prison. they had plenty owe that.

what else can you tell us from the white house, monica? >> all morning long u.s. officials have been in very close contact with israeli officials about this very significant development. president biden is currently in the air on air force one on his way to berlin, germany, but he was briefed on the possibility that yahya sinwar had been killed before he left this morning and has continually been updated by his top national security aides who are traveling with him on his trip and certainly the white house was waiting for the official confirmation from the initial dna testing before we expect them to have some kind of a reaction and statement which should be coming soon now that we know this, and i can also tell you, chris, where this is a moment where even a few days ago, key officials at the white house had said that the reason there was very little hope or optimism about negotiations restarting to free the remaining

hostages, they attributed that to specifically sinwar's opposition to coming to the table, they said. they said basically that because he had been so underground and not communicating with negotiators and intermediaries on the latest proposals that had been bounced back and forth, that that was a major impediment and obstacle. so it is very notable today now to try to raise these questions again with u.s. officials about how this calculation could change now that the idf reports that sinwar had been eliminated for starting those talks and we also know that many different times when it seems like thing his aligned only to collapse again, there were questions about the hamas leadership role in all of that and whether that could shift that. so the discussion now could potentially go to whether these talks are restarted. i am told here by officials that certainly the u.s. and the biden administration hasn't given up hope on that and they would like to do that, but there was the sense that there couldn't be

much accomplished without necessarily knowing where sinwar was going to be on some of these proposals. so the fact that he is now out of the picture does open up this new potential opportunity and that's certainly what the hostage families are saying in their own statement that they released today, and i think that that's what you can expect the president and others to say in terms of where this momentum now could be translated into or where it could go from here, but as you know very well, chris, the hostage families have been holing out for any kernel of good news, of hope or progress or any indication, and i am told by several that i checked in with today that the fact that they were encouraged by what the idf said which was there didn't seem to be any signs of hostages who were found near where the body of yahya sinwar was found that that was a relief, but they essentially wait every single day for the news that the opposite could be true and that their loved ones could be found

dead in gaza. so anything that could restart these talks, of course, is of great interest to the u.s., to the biden administration, and i have to tell you that in the last few days also when she's been asked, vice president harris has also tried to say that the administration is still pushing for something to happen here and she is notably traveling in milwaukee on the campaign trail and she has been a close partner to the president on some of these issues, and in every conversation, for instance that prime minister has had with prime minister netanyahu of israel she has been a participant of those in the last few weeks or so. so i expect we'll be hearing from her not only in the vice presidential capacity, but also as a nominee and this is an issue that's important to many american voters, as well. chris? >> david, do you see an opening and if so, how big for the biden

administration to resume pressure for a ceasefire? >> so i'm sure that they'll want to carry through with the ceasefire negotiations they worked so hard on. i just want to note a problem for the negotiating team and for the hostage release and first if hamas in retaliation kills any or many of the remaining hostages, that makes the bargain much less attractive to israel. second, the deal that had been set involved israel releasing, i'm told, a thousand palestinian prisoners including more than a hundred who had been convicted of killing israelis, violent crimes. so is israel still going to be willing to sign off on a deal that had been crafted to appeal to sinwar, so rich in

palestinian gains in terms of this release of prisoners. will they still offer that deal with sinwar gone? i don't know the answer to that. i want to raise the question because i'm sure that that's what our negotiators are thinking as they wonder how to get back to the table and resume discussions. >> we are now learning, we should say, that hostage families have been told by idf that there were no signs of harm to those still being held in gaza near where the body of yahya sinwar was found, that's according to two sources close to hostage families and now a new warning from parents of israeli-american hostage omar nutra. >> this is a very sensitive, time-sensitive development in regard to the hostages. their lives are in grave danger. we are calling on the israeli government and the u.s. administration to act swiftly and do whatever is needed to reach a deal with the captures.

we are at an inflexion point with the goal set for the war with gaza have been achieved and all by the release of the hostages. >> joining us now, florida congressman with the house and foreign affairs committee. i know that you have been closely involved with the hostage families and you have spent a lot of time talking to them. you heard the phrase, it's time to do whatever is needed. what does the u.s. need to do now? >> thanks, chris. thanks for having me. >> those parents are exactly right. now that sinwar has been killed, the osama bin laden of october 7th and the mastermind behind those attacks and the person responsible for gaza they knew there would be a response liable this. we have to get the hostages out and that is the number one priority and i agree with the hostage parents that they're

worried that there could be reprisal so, yeah, time is of the essence. that is the focus for people who want to bring this war to an end. now that sinwar is gone, the second piece of of that is getting the remaining hostages out, if we can do that then obviously we can bring the war in gaza to an end. >> that would have to include the release of 100 palestinian prisoners, a hundred of whom have killed israelis. >> obviously, there is a lesson in that. the way we got sinwar was exactly that. sinwar was released in a prisoner exchange when a thousand other very -- palestinian prisoners were released. many of them also guilty of murder and then we got the mastermind of october 7th so israel has to balance that. i'm sure israel will do whatever it can it get the hostages out and they cannot be committed to committing another october 7th so trying to find the delicate balance is very important to the

state of israel, but obviously still the focus to the families and we needed to find out where they are, where they're located and now that sinwar is gone there will be panic among whoever remains that has been loyal to hamas. there is a sense that time has been running out even before this to make a deal. congressman, i don't know if you saw, but they spoke to a family killed by a member of hamas. i want to play that interview. >> so many of our leaders in the military and intelligence community in israel is saying this is a moment. we should do this deal. >> we subsequently did see a list and hirsch was on that list. >> how do you make sense of that deal being so close and then weeks later hirsch being killed? >> it's one of the many things that we don't make sense of yet. i don't know that we ever will. >>. >> and now you hear from omar

nutra's family saying the hostages are in more danger than ever. are they? how loudly is the clock ticking? >> i think the clock is ticking. i think the clock has been ticking. i think that was clear when hamas went and executed those hostages and those parents are always going to wonder what if. what if this had happened and what if that had happened and that's terrible and horrific and that's why we have to try to get the hostages out as fast as possible, but to be clear, the person not willing to release the hostages has been sinwar. sinwar, if you listen to antony blinken, he's been refusing to release the hostages. now that he's gone, i agree with the hostage families, the hostage's lives may be in peril if we can't get a deal quickly. >> what approach do you want to see the u.s. take with mediators and egypt, qatar right now as a

result of where we are right now. >> now is the time to put pressure on egypt and qatar. now is a time to make them understand they've got to get to a deal. they've got to do more than they have been doing to get this to a deal. >> i mean, israel has wiped out the leaders of hamas and hezbollah in a matter of weeks and now we can bring the temperature down and probably move to a new phase of what's goinging on out there. israel has deal with iranian proxies on the border, but this part, the war in gaza and this is part of the egyptians and qataris to get the hostages out and get this phase of what's going on in gaza that is hamas' fault to an end. >> congressman moskowitz, thank you very much for taking the time to talk to us as we watch what is going on on the streets of tel aviv, israel.

director brennan, i should tell you that bibi netanyahu is indeed or has completed addressing the israeli people and i do believe there are headlines and i want to ask you about them. we will continue full force, benjamin netanyahu says, until our hostages return and speaks directly to the people of gaza. sinwar has ruined your lives. what's the message that you hear in that particularly we will continue full force until our hostages are returned. >> that netanyahu will continue with this very hard line in gaza whether it's using additional military effort to go against hamas, but i do agree that this could be a very dangerous time for the hostages because there could be elements of hamas holding the hostages that want to take revenge for the death of sinwar. some will be very happy that he is dead, but others will want to

seek retaliation. i must say that netanyahu despite the death of sinwar and the destruction of a large part of hamas' military capabilities and removal of thousands of militants off of the battlefield, he has a very, very challenging palestinian problem. he has 2 million palestinians living in the rubble of gaza right now. they're starving. they're facing health issues and other types of things and then you have 3 million palestinians in the west bank that are living under rather oppressive security and other types of restrictions and limitations. so this palestinian issue is not going to go away and that's why i think the idea of trying to pivot to a more strategic approach to try to recognize that this is a long-term problem. yes, he can take some of these individuals off the battlefield and he can destroy the capabilities of the current group of hamas fighters, but until they address the underlying challenge which is finding some way to palestinian self-determination and a two-state solution we'll continue to see extremists

within the palestinian environment take action against israel. >> we just got some more translation which includes the exactly the point you're make. let's listen right now. >> translator: a year ago we celebrated the feast of the tabernacles. they prepared last-minute preparations for the 7th of october. i am standing here today to tell you that he has been killed. he who killed and caused the worst massacre ever since the holocaust, he was killed by our soldiers, our heroic soldiers and we have finished our accounts with him, but the mission ahead of us has not been completed. dear families of the hostages, this is a very important moment

in the war. we will continue with all our strength until all your dearly beloved hostages that we love so much will be brought home. it is our commitment. it is our supreme commitment. sinwar really destroyed your lives, and i'm telling all of you in the gaza, but he was hiding in a little dark cave and he was killed when he was running away from our soldiers. this is the end of the evil rule of the hamas, and i'm telling you in a clear-cut manner, hamas will no longer rule the gaza strip. this is the day after that. now it is your opportunity to be freed of his tyranny, and i'm telling you now all your leaders will be eliminated. so just remember that, but those

who will bring back our hostages, they will be saved, but those who will hurt our hostages, believe me, their days are numbered. the return of our hostages is an opportunity to really bring them home and really solve everything. the light is coming up, the dark is retreating. aquila, all of them have been eliminated and i'm calling on you, the people of the region, it is a wonderful opportunity to thwart the act of the axis of evil and to bring burgeoning and flourishing of this area. we have to bring this blessing to all of us. now it is clear to everyone why we stubbornly continued fighting and why we said we have to go to

the stronghold of the hamas in rafah because that is where the murderer was hiding. i would like to salute all of the gss, the idf, all of them. there is no better than them, and now it is clear more than ever before that's the good will prevail over the evil. the war has not ended yet, it is hard and we have paid heavy prices. i would like to express from the depth of my heart, my mourning and my condolences to the families who have lost their dearly beloved, your and their sacrifices are bringing us to the victory, and in the words david our king, you will see that this will happen. there are so many challenges yet

ahead of us, we have to really wait and be brave and we have to continue courageously and standing steadfastly and we will win. the citizens of israel, we celebrated suko, it just last year. during those moments he was preparing the 7th of october, that horrendous massacre. i am standing hereduring those preparing the 7th of october, that horrendous massacre. i am standing here today to announce to notify you that he has been killed. yahya sinwar, who has prepared the worst-ever since the holocaust, and today we have finished our accounts with him. the evil has suffered a very harsh blow today, but we have not concluded our task and to the dearly beloved families and

members of the families of the hostages. we will continue until all of those dearly beloved will be brought home. because of that is our supreme commitment and to the people of gaza, i am telling you that sinwar told you that, in fact, he was reigning and doing so well, but in pack, he was hiding in a little dark cave, but now that he has been eliminated and we will see that there will be a decline of the evil and they will no longer reign over gaza. this is the beginning. this is the day after hamas now, and it is now an opportunity for you to be released and freed of his tyranny and to you, the hamas, believe me, the leaders, they can never flee us. they will be eliminated, but for

those who are willing to lay down their arms from the hamas and free the hostages, believe me, they will be saved, but those who do not, their days are numbered if they dare hurt any of the hostages. it is now bringing about the end of the war and to the people of the region, gaza, beirut and the whole region, the dark is now retreating, the light is coming out. nasrallah, and so many of their other comrades, their days are numbered. they are no longer here. it is an opportunity for us to thwart the evil and bring about a positive future, one where we will be able to see how a blessing will be upon us and now it is clear to all of us here in israel and abroad why we stubbornly said despite all of the pressure wielded on us, that

we will not stop the war and we will go into rafah because that is where the arch murderer and so many of the comrades were hiding. i would like to salute the idf and the gss, they are no better than them for their valor, and we have shown again how the good can prevail over the evil, but the war has not ended, and it is a hard war and we are paying heavy prices, but i would like to express my condolences to the families who have lost their dearly beloved members of their families and their sacrifices have brought us closer to the victory and in the words of david, the king, we will continue chasing our enemy until we have eliminated them all. now this is a war for

resurrection. there are many challenges ahead of us. we need to stand steadfastly, we need valor and we need to be resilient, but with the help of god and all of us together, unified, we will win. >> that was israeli prime minister benjamin netanyahu after word and confirmation both if fingerprint and dna that the leader of hamas, yahya sinwar, has been killed by the idf. you heard what he had to say. he said the region now has an opportunity to end the axis of evil. he who killed has been killed. he continues to present this as a fight of good versus evil and dark versus light. cia director brennan, he says in this decline of dark and evil, this is the day after hamas now. is it? >> i don't believe so in terms

of we're not on a path of peace. >> does that sound like a path of peace. >> no, it was military might and those who carried out the attacks and i can understand that. netanyahu has several audiences here and he was playing to the right-wing domestically and they continued to do this until they vanquished hamas. there's the international audience, as well, including the united states and all of the countries that are looking with concern about what israel has done in terms of its military attacks in gaza and other places and then there are also the palestinian people. now the palestinian people are free of yahya sinwar, but he could be much more impressive in sympathy for the plight of the palestinians and what he's going to try to do to address palestinian grievances or issues, and i don't see any of that. i do see that he is talking about israel itself and what he

needs to accomplish in order to protect itself and what i believe is his responsibility to the palestinians that it has, in fact, occupied in the west bank as well as now they have left gaza in ruins as a result of last year's war. >> former cia director brennan. it has been fantastic on such a momentous day to have your expertise. we appreciate you being here. omar nutra is being held by hamas and i want to get your reaction to benjamin netanyahu. he did say that israel has its commitment, its supreme commitment to bring the hostages home, but did you hear in that, did you hear hope in that that

israel has a plan to bring the hostages home that you think will work? >> so this is the strongest speech that we've heard from him relating to the hostages, and i think that he's feeling the pressure that's coming from the hostage families. you know, we are holding our breath. this is something that needed to happen, but it also puts our family members and our son at great risk, even greater risk than before right now in the chaos in gaza and our it is doing everything to be proactive right now and act upon the release of the hostages immediately and he insinuated to a few things that, you know, could be done and reached out to anyone holding on to hostages, but that is the first step and we really need to see action and

immediately. >> no, please. >> we've been hearing all along that sinwar is the major obstacle for reaching a deal. well, here we are. sinwar was finally eliminated today. israel has achieved most of its goals except one, releasing of the hostages and we've heard from netanyahu a commitment to release them. i think we are at an inflexion point where everything should be done to release the 101 hostages, and among them seven americans, the u.s. administration must do everything to support this effort together with the mediators in the area and also, i want to remind the audience, 45 americans were murdered on october 7th. this is a time for the u.s. administration to step in and say enough is enough. sinwar is gone and we're doing everything to bring the hostages. seven hostages. >> do you believe realistically and you've had to become over

the last year plus experts on diplomacy, on international relations, on all sorts of things that no one should be put in a position to have to do. do you believe there is an opening that there didn't exist before and that the u.s. has the influence of moving in the direction of bringing your son home? >> the news cycle has been insane and we woke up to this news that many people have been waiting for for a very long time. we have to look at something like this as an opportunity and we can't lose hope and we're doing our share in pressuring all of the parties involved to take action right now whether again, it's the united states government, the israeli government and the different mediators that have been around the table, hamas doha, do whatever is needed and make this happen. >> omar was born here in new york. he's an american. it's the responsibility of the u.s. administration to do

everything in its power to release the seven hostages and we look at the killing of sinwar today as a major step toward this goal. >> omar celebrated hear second birthday in captivity this past monday. this has to end. he needs to be released together with the rest of the hostages. >> and i think you were able -- i've been following very closely his story, your story and you had a gathering of family, friends and supporters on long island. he was a basketball fan if i remember from other things i read, a knicks fan, and so you were able to have a gathering there. i wonder what those conversations are like how important they are as exhausted as you must be to keeping that hope alive? >> it was really a beautiful and emotional event.

on sunday in the city, actually, there was a big march in central park, and then an event that was all around basketball. omer always loves basketball. he's a new york knicks fan and he played basketball. he captained his high school sports team, and many kids came, spoke about him in his honor, played for him. he was the only person missing there, and you know, we pray and hope that he's back soon and reunited with his friends, with his family, and so many people that are just praying for his release. >> i don't know how often you're in touch with members of the administration, contacts with the u.s. government, but -- and whether you've heard from them since this news broke, but when you do talk to someone, what will be your message? >> seize the moment. we're expecting for a call with the white house, and we're going to tell them, this is one of the

greatest opportunities in the last year since omer was kidnapped and the rest of the hostages, seize the moment, come up with a plan, and do everything possible with the partners in the middle east to bring the hostages back. this is the time. >> we hope this is the opening that you and so many others, too many others have been waiting for for 377 days. thank you so much for taking the time to talk with me again. i appreciate it so much. >> thank you so much. and people in gaza are reacting to the news that israel killed that hamas leader, yahya sinwar. a 42-year-old palestinian teacher told "the new york times" she is relieved saying quote, i wish he rots in hell. this should mean the war is coming to an end i hope. a displaced father living in a tent camp says he thinks now

netanyahu can declare victory over hamas, and he also has hope the war will end. former cia officer marc polymeropoulos is here. take the events of today. take what we just heard from benjamin netanyahu, is hope alive? >> well, chris, i think a couple of things right now, and first of all, the netanyahu statement i think was very interesting because he did mention the hostages quite a bit. that's where everything is going to turn right now. there's going to be enormous attention focused on the hostages, their war aim of killing sinwar has been met. there's going to be huge public pressure. this is still certainly something that has not happened, and god bless the family, watching that interview. it was heart wrenching. don't forget also that netanyahu mentioned that sinwar was killed in rafa.

and that's when the reserve unit seems to have found him by chance, quite remarkable. overall, think about it for the american audience right now, chris. 46 americans were killed on october 7th. that's a mass casualty event. the u.s. counter terrorism team is pleased right now. this is something to be celebrated. seven american hostages remain. that has to be the focus of the investigation. the neutra family is right. this is going to galvanize the biden administration. the real question is will netanyahu be in a position to make a cease fire and a hostage deal. i think the israelis are in a great negotiating position, and i think there will be pressure certainly from the israeli public and the u.s. administration for netanyahu to act because this is a way to certainly bring the war to a close. >> what gives israel the strength of its negotiating position, and how long does that potentially last? how long is the opening? >> so, chris, that's a really good question. there's always going to be concern that the hostages now might be in danger.

i think what the negotiators, the qataris and the egyptians are going to reach out to hamas. whatever leadership succession. they will do it through the hamas officials in qatar, but they have to reopen these talks. i think there will be significant concern about how long the hostages may have now. was there any plans in terms of their fate if sinwar was killed. i think time is of the essence. israel has the upper hand in the negotiating strategy now. hamas is going to be in disarray. sinwar was a critical figure, absolutely in terms of leadership. i think the israelis are in a good position right now. let's see if netanyahu okay's this and takes a step that many believe is necessary. >> as you listen to the family of omer neutra they said what you affirmed, they believe it puts their son, their family at greater risk. they are calling for leaders to be proactive.

what does proactive look like? >> so i think it's certainly going to be a renewed effort from the u.s., israel, egypt and qatar to get together come up with what a negotiating position would be and make contact with whatever hamas officials are able to be the main interlocutors. israel suffered a tremendous trauma on october 7th. and so this is going to be seen as necessary closure, that also gives netanyahu government a position in which they can perhaps, perhaps bibi can move in a direction of some kind of cease fire, hostage deal and alleviate some of the pressure that he's still going to be calls in israel from the extreme right to keep going in gaza. at some point this is going to

be seen as enough. i think there's going to be enormous pressure on israel from the public. now is the time for a hostage deal. >> marc polymeropoulos, it is always good to have you on the program. thank you. much more of our breaking news coverage of this consequential moment in the war in the middle east coming up in our next hour. stay with us. our next hour. stay with us evere eczema disrupts my skin, night and day. despite treatment, it's still not under control. but now i have rinvoq. a once-daily pill that reduces the itch and helps clear the rash of eczema —fast. some taking rinvoq felt significant itch relief as early as 2 days— and some achieved dramatic skin clearance as early as 2 weeks. many saw clear or almost-clear skin. plus, many had clearer skin and less itch, even at 3 years. rinvoq can lower your ability to fight infections, including tb. serious infections and blood clots, some fatal, cancers including lymphoma and skin, heart attack, stroke, and gi tears occurred. people 50 and older with a heart disease risk factor have an increased risk of death.

serious allergic reactions can occur. tell your doctor if you are or may become pregnant. disrupt the itch & rash of eczema. talk to your dermatologist about rinvoq. learn how abbvie can help you save.

(man) these men of means with their silver spoons. learn how abbvie what will become of them when they discover robinhood gold allows others to earn their very liberal rates on idle cash. they would descend into chaos.