>> back to you. >> thank you, emily. and before we go, there's one more inaugural event stirring up attention in the nation's capital. the two diplomatic mascots, bali and qingdao, made their public premiere. see what i did there? at smithsonian's national zoo this morning. here they are on the national zoo's panda cam. these giant pandas have been adjusting to their new habitat in private since october, but they're ready for visitors now. so starting this weekend, the zoo will host a series of events to kick off the pandas debut. or you can watch them on the zoo's live stream any day of the week. when you want to panda to your needs. that does it for us today. have a wonderful weekend. i'll see you back here on monday. stay warm. i'm ana cabrera, reporting from new york. ali vitali picks up our coverage right now. >> good morning. it's 11 a.m. eastern, 8 a.m. pacific. i'm ali

vitali in for jose diaz-balart. and we begin this morning with breaking news. today, president trump making his first trip outside washington since returning to office at this hour. he's just landed in asheville, north carolina, and will head to visit the disaster areas ravaged by hurricane helene back in september. helene, of course, marked the deadliest u.s. hurricane in nearly two decades, with more than 230 people killed across six states. asheville saw, of course, the most widespread devastation. historic flooding and mudslides damaged thousands of buildings and homes, tore apart roads and destroyed the city's water and power lines. after asheville, president trump will then travel to los angeles, visiting some of the sites impacted by the still blazing wildfires. right now, there are nine active fires burning across southern california. they've torched over 50,000 acres, more than three and a half times the size of manhattan. for some context. joining us now, nbc's kelly o'donnell, who's in asheville, north carolina, and

nbc's liz kreutz in pacific palisades, california. kelly, we'll start with you. what are you expecting to see from the president's three state trip today? >> i would think one of the things the president will want to do is get a sense of how have things changed? he was here in north carolina as candidate trump back in october, where he saw the initial recovery. and now to see that here we are months later, and there are all kinds of businesses like this, homes, parts of the community where debris is very visible, where recovery still has a long way to go. so what is the snapshot difference from his visit then to now? and now it's his responsibility in part to lead the recovery effort. so what will he have to say about that? the president gave us a sense of what's on his mind when he was leaving the white house, talking to reporters a short time ago, and part of that was concern and criticism for how the people and communities hit by these disasters have been treated. here's what he had to say.

>> north carolina's been. >> a horrible. >> thing, the. >> way that's. been allowed to fester, and we're going to get it fixed up. it should have been done months ago from the hurricane. north carolina's been treated very badly. we're going to then go to los angeles and take a look at a fire that could have been put out if they let the water flow, but they didn't let the water flow. >> and here in north carolina, the president will meet with local officials. he'll meet with people who have been trying to get their lives back on track. he'll meet with some of those from samaritan's purse. you may remember how active they were as a nonprofit, bringing aid and relief and comfort into communities that were so hard hit. and there were questions at the time, especially initially, of the role of the nonprofits filling a gap where many on the ground were concerned about the level of fema's response. and so the scale of this was so great, the work still so much to do. and the president will hear personally from both leaders and people affected by this in a

limited tour, but certainly enough to demonstrate his focus here, making it the first domestic stop since he's taken office. ali. >> and here on the screen, we see our white house press corps colleagues waiting for the president to deplane air force one in asheville, north carolina. once he finishes there in north carolina, he'll then head out west to you, liz, where he'll visit california as the wildfires are still burning. what are you seeing on the ground there? >> well. hey, ali. yeah, the conditions here have just been relentless for the past three weeks here with red flag warning conditions for millions of people, which just means conditions ripe for fire. strong winds, high heat, low humidity. and it has just fueled so many fires that have just sparked, like, whack a mole game all around southern california. you put one out. another starts. the good news, ali, is that right now it seems like the weather conditions might be shifting. we expect rain in the forecast tomorrow. this will be the first significant rainfall in the

region in months, so it hopefully will help put out some of the hotspots, prevent some more spot fires from starting. but with that then comes another layer of concern. because when we have rain so close to this devastation, there's now concerns about potential mudslides and also potential runoff from all of this toxic debris. and so we've seen crews out there trying to fortify and put concrete barriers around some of the burn scar areas to be prepared for the rain tomorrow. >> yeah, liz, weather has played such a key role in the recovery in california. and of course, on the other side of the screen, we're seeing the president and the first lady deplane, descend the steps of air force one. and now talking to elected officials who are meeting them there on the tarmac in asheville, north carolina. that's before they begin, of course, their day on the ground surveying the damage. but, liz, i want to ask you, on the california front, trump has threatened to withhold recovery aid from california. there has been no love lost between him and the governor there, gavin newsom, specifically to newsom.

he says he's going to meet him on the tarmac there. what's that going to look like? >> yeah, well, it seems like it's an unofficial meeting if it happens. one headline i was seeing from a california outlet described it as newsom crashing trump's visit. it sounds like governor newsom has not spoken directly to the president yet, but he did tell our affiliate nbc that he plans to meet him on the tarmac and welcome him. and just a reminder, you know, they've done this before. back in 2018, during president trump's first term, he came to california to survey the damage from the devastating camp fire. and him and governor newsom toured the devastation together and were incredibly cordial and civil during that meeting. and so we'll see if we have that today. but yes, president trump has been pretty vocal criticizing the management of this fire here, both from governor newsom and some of the local politicians. and we will say as well, that former president biden has said that the federal government would reimburse the state of

california for any emergency funds spent in the first 180 days. yesterday, governor newsom announced $2.5 billion in state emergency funds to help with cleanup here. it is unclear if president trump will uphold that promise. >> and the hope from many democrats on the ground, liz, is that politics can be taken out. >> of. >> this process will, of course, see what happens when trump gets on the ground. but kelly, i want to turn back to you for a moment as we're watching these live pictures on the tarmac in asheville. i was noticing as the president left washington, there was an aid that caught my attention. who was walking with him? his name is walt nauta. he came out of the white house alongside other aides earlier today. remind our viewers why that's a notable name and what's going on there. >> well, walt nada served in the first term as part of the military and was a valet to president trump. and they built a good relationship. and the valet is one of the people who attends to a lot of the personal needs of the president with

respect to things like his meals. and sometimes it's even clothing and getting from place to place, separate from what we call the body man, who is always at the side of the president. this was a military role when president trump left washington. walt nada went with him and served in a larger sort of body man role. again, that aide who's always at the elbow helps when people want an autograph sign, helps with taking photos, helps with all the kind of personal needs, personal assistant type, quality to it. this is a military veteran. now, if you've heard that name in another context, it's because he was indicted in the case involving moving of. a cow. under the. >> president's watch. you and the president is speaking. we're going to go to that. >> now because they've been abused by what's happened. i mean, it's terrible. it should have been done. it should have been a lot of things should have happened that didn't happen. so we're here, we're going to fix it we're

going to fix it, and we're going to fix it as fast as you can. it's a massive amount of damage. fema is really let us down, let the country down. and i don't know if that's biden's fault or whose fault it is, but we're going to take over and we're going to do a good job, and we're going to assign mr. whatley, who's fantastic, frankly, and the governor and everybody else that's going to work. we're going to supply the money, the supply, a lot of the money. maybe you have to chip in something. you chip in a little something like maybe 25% or whatever, but we're going to get it done as quickly as we can, and we want to take care of the people of north carolina. it's so interesting. everybody is talking about california, and that's a mess. but i said, i'm not going to california until i stop in north carolina. so here we are. we're going to go visit the site, and we're going to work with probably three of the congressmen, republican congressmen, who have been fantastic, whose areas have been

affected. and with michael whatley, the governor and whoever else is, you know, we decide to get involved, probably less fema, because fema just hasn't done the job. and we're looking at the whole concept of fema. i like, frankly, the concept when north carolina gets hit, the governor takes care of it. when florida gets hit, the governor takes care of it, meaning the state takes care of it. they have a group of people come in from an area that don't even know where they're going in order to solve immediately. a problem is something that never worked for me, but this is probably one of the best examples of it not working. and there's been some others, like in louisiana, etc. so we're going to be doing something on fema that i think most people agree. i'd like to see the states take care of disasters, let the state take care of the tornadoes and the hurricanes and all of the other things that happen. and i think you're going to find it a lot less expensive.

you'll do it for less than half, and you're going to get a lot quicker response. so that seems to be the recommendation, but we'll be making that recommendation over the next couple of weeks. we're going to go to the site now, and we're going to figure out a plan, a plan for really demolition and cleaning, because not a lot has been done. and we're very disappointed in the biden administration, but we're going to make up for lost time. and i said i'd do that. and this is about the earliest we could possibly be here, and we're honored to be here. this has been a great state. they're great people, and they've really been mishandled. but it's all this group is going to be great and we're going to get it taken care of. any questions? >> how will you respond. >> to. >> this to fema? do you expect. >> to ask congress for additional aid for north carolina and california? >> i'll be direct. in other words, the aid will go through us. so rather than going through fema, it will go through us. and i think maybe this is a good place to start, because and in

all fairness to the governor and in all fairness to everybody else, fema was not on the ball. and we're going to turn it all around. yes. >> a lot of americans think that this is symbolic of what your campaign was all about. america first, putting your priorities to americans, even going to california, where their policies might have been one of the biggest reasons why they've had these problems. but you're putting the american people first. your thoughts on that? >> we are, but thank you. i like that question. boy, i want more questions like that. that's even a statement. thank you very much. he's a good man, that guy. and he's also a very professional reporter. i have to say. thank you very much. yeah, we're putting america first. we're putting in this case north carolina and california. we're going to do a good job in california. that is a disaster. like, i don't know if we've ever seen anything like it. frankly. they say the biggest in the history of california, i think has anything bigger than that happened in the whole country ever. it looks like. i don't want to say what it looks like, but you know what i'm going to

say? it looks like something hit it and we won't talk about what hit it. but it is a bad, bad situation. and i guess i'm going to meet with some government officials. but i mean, much more importantly. and in california, just to revert to it for a second. millions of gallons of water are waiting to be poured down through already the half pipes that are already built. i mean, they've been up for 40 years, and about 20 years ago they turned off the water. and it's the water that comes from the pacific northwest. some of it comes out of canada and it flows there, and it probably has flowed there for a million years. and they turned it off. they routed out to the pacific. and in the meantime, you don't have water in the hydrants, you don't have water in the sprinkler systems. it's the craziest thing i've ever seen. and everyone is trying to figure out why aren't they turning it back? they say it's the delta smelt. it's a fish. but i find that hard to believe. but we'll

figure it out. and without and without doing that, you're going to continue to have problems. >> mr. president. >> what are. >> you prepared. >> to do. >> sir, if opec. >> doesn't respond to your call to cut oil prices? >> well. >> we want to see opec cut the price of oil and that will automatically stop the tragedy that's taking place in ukraine. it's a butchering tragedy for both sides. by the way, a tremendous number of russian soldiers are dead. tremendous number of ukrainian soldiers a lot of. coming of this right now. bullets whacking and hitting men, mostly men almost in all cases, men. and they're over a million men are killed and they're losing thousands of people a week. it's crazy. it's a crazy war. and it never would have happened if i was president would never have happened. this is crazy that it happened. but we want to stop it now. one way

to stop it quickly is for opec to stop making so much money and to drop the price of oil, because they have it nice and high. and if you have it high, that war is not going to end so easily. so opec ought to get on the ball and they ought to drop the price of oil. and that war will stop right away. >> mr. president funding. >> to los angeles because of its sanctuary city policy. >> i want to see two things in los angeles voter id so that the people have a chance to vote. and i want to see the water be released and come down into los angeles and throughout the state. those are the two things. after that, i will be the greatest president that california ever has ever seen. i want the water to come down and come down to los angeles, and also go out to all the farmland that's barren and dry. you know, they have land that they say is the equivalent of the land in iowa, which is about as good as there is anywhere on earth. the problem is it's artificial because they artificially stop

the water from going onto the land. so i want two things. i want voter id for the people of california, and they all want it right now. you have no, you don't have voter id. people want to have voter identification. you want to have proof of citizenship. ideally, you have one day voting, but i just want voter id as a start. and i want the water to be released. and they're. >> watching president donald trump speaking there on the tarmac in asheville, north carolina. we're going to continue monitoring as he takes questions, or apparently he seems to be maybe taking one more and then walking away. but of course, we'll keep you honest on what happens there. i want to turn to liz quickly, though, because in the course of taking those questions, we heard from the president a few key pieces of misinformation, a few things that we have questions about in terms of not letting fema run aid money, but doing it through the states. liz, i want to go to you on one piece of this, which is what the president keeps referring to about water in california and smelt. this is

something that the governor of california tried to debunk a few weeks ago. but can you just fact check, fact check this a little for us? >> yeah. this is a claim that we've heard president trump now make repeatedly, along with other republicans, as they continue to criticize the management of these fires and policies here in california. and president trump is referring to some policies related to the delta, which is a waterway in the northern part of the state, and particularly policies around protecting and endangered fish, the smelt. and it's a contentious issue here. it's a contentious issue with farmers. and president trump and gavin newsom are on different sides of the debate. there's unfounded claims that anything to do with the delta has had an impact on these wildfires. and that's sort of the what president trump is trying to tie the two together. that's at this point, something that governor newsom's office denies. there's no correlation that we know of at this time. between that, i think there's

questions, though, from residents here around why there wasn't water in the hydrants. there's questions why the reservoir here near the pacific palisades was empty. those are questions we have heard from residents here that they've been asking of local politicians. and that's something that we've also heard president trump bring up. but this correlation between the delta and these wildfires, that's still something to really be seen. and we haven't seen that correlation. >> ali kelly, two other things caught my attention as i was listening to the president. the first is the way that he talked about conditioning los angeles fire aid, but in a different way than we've heard him talk about it, saying he wants to see voter id laws there. and then that water situation that liz was talking about dealt with. that's a different conditioning conversation than the one the hill has been having. but then also, the other piece of it is saying that it wouldn't be fema, but that it would run through us aid money and relief money. how would that even work? >> well, i am so struck by this because i think this is an

unexpected, very big piece of news from president trump. the remaking of how government approaches the business of government is really stunning. and one of the first things that happens when there is anything from tornado to flood to fire to crisis of any kind. governors ask the white house for federal emergency aid. it happens within hours of a crisis because state governments are not set up to manage large scale crises, and the burden of the cost of that is spread across all 50 states. when we know from our experience certain states are more open to having different crises. now, there's clearly an ability for states to respond on certain levels to the crises that happen in their communities, but they need federal resources at a scale that is so much greater than a state budget. often states have a balanced budget requirement, and so they can't expend that, whereas the federal

government has more leeway. what he is talking about is such a remaking of federal emergency response. it's quite striking. i want to know more about what he is referring to, and it gave the sound of wanting to direct from the white house, congressionally authorized money to specific needs. that also is kind of an expansion of presidential power. congress, as you know, also all too well. ali, from your time on the hill is the one that that sets that that money. so this is a very significant change that he has floating about. federal emergency response, criticism of fema, certainly plenty to be had. the job is big, but changing fema and making it a state function would be a very significant shift. >> i agree with you, kelly. i have a lot of questions about this too. i know you'll be asking them. kelly o'donnell and liz creutz, thank you for sticking with us. and coming up next, we'll talk about the

latest immigration actions taken by the trump administration. plus, pete hegseth could be the new defense secretary by the end of the day. today, new details about a $50,000 settlement he paid to a woman who accused him of sexual assault. and if that's swaying any senators on the hill. you're watching msnbc hill. you're watching msnbc reportslet's get started. bill, where's your mask? i really tried sleeping with it, everybody. but i'm done struggling. now i sleep with inspire. inspire? inspire is a sleep apnea treatment that works inside my body with just the click of this button. a button? no mask? no hose? just sleep. yeah but you need the hose, you need the air, you need the whoooooosh... inspire. sleep apnea innovation. learn more, and view important safety information at inspiresleep.com prilosec knows, for a fire... one fire extinguisher beats 10 buckets of water, and for zero heartburn 1 prilosec a day... beats taking up to 10 antacids a day. it's that simple,

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trump's campaign promise of a massive immigration crackdown. it's now unfolding across major u.s. cities like newark, new jersey, where the city's mayor said ice officials raided a local business in an effort to detain undocumented immigrants. the city's mayor, ras baraka, slammed the operation as unconstitutional. baraka said u.s. citizens were also detained in the raid, including a u.s. veteran who had his military documentation questioned. joining us now, three of our stellar nbc news reporters, we've got erin mclaughlin in newark, priscilla thompson in el paso, texas. and here with me on set, julia ainsley. erin, i'll start first with you. what do we know so far about this raid? i know we're waiting to hear from officials on the ground. >> yeah. that's right. we're beginning. we're beginning to get more information in terms of what exactly happened here in newark yesterday. community members say they're shocked, many of them afraid to speak out. but our affiliate station,

wnbc, did manage to speak to one employee of the seafood depot behind me. she confirmed that the raid, the ice raid, took place there yesterday. she said that ice agents arrived unannounced and took away three employees who were unable to produce documents. those employees, she said, were from ecuador. take a listen. >> catches three guys. >> and they. like. like. >> a prison. and i was like a. >> little bit everybody's. >> afraid because i don't know if. >> this is. >> normal. >> but they. >> is. from i think ecuador. and it was. >> it was crazy. >> they asked for the manager. >> but the manager. >> was upstairs and. >> they only. >> came came. >> in and. >> that's it.

>> now city officials have yet to confirm any arrests. the mayor, in a statement said that a number of undocumented residents were detained, as well as a u.s. citizen, a military former military personnel who was unable or who was asked and questioned about his military documents. ice, in a statement responding specifically to that allegation, saying, quote, u.s. immigration and customs enforcement may encounter u.s. citizens while conducting field work and may request identification to establish an individual's identity, as was the case during a targeted enforcement operation at a work site today in newark, new jersey. this is an active investigation, and per ice policy, we cannot discuss ongoing investigations. we are expecting to hear more from the mayor and other city officials. in a press conference shortly. >> erin. thank you. julia, i

want to ask you first what she's saying there that ice is saying sometimes people get swept up in this. is that right? yeah, that is true. >> that they can. have collateral arrest. what's different here is work rates. this is something we saw under the first trump administration. biden did away with that policy, and they would try to target individuals who they saw as a public safety threat. >> when you do a. >> workplace raid, you, by and large, you're getting people who do not have criminal records, who happen to be working in one place. and when they start to interview people, they can find other undocumented immigrants they weren't seeking. this is part of what trump wants to do to boost these numbers, and that is a difference. but yes, ice has always been able, if they show up to arrest one undocumented immigrant and they find that someone else is living in that house or nearby in that vicinity, they can ask for papers and that can lead to a deportation. >> that's really helpful context. julia. priscilla, on the ground where you are. this is all coming as troops have just arrived at the southern border. what are you seeing and what is the community there?

think about this military buildup. >> yeah. >> ali, a very active. scene here today and yesterday. already this morning we were here very early and we saw a lot of those military transport vehicles moving throughout this area. but it was yesterday when we were on the ground reporting that we saw military airplanes overhead and rushed over to the airstrip here, where we saw those planes actually landing, troops getting off of those planes. we spoke with the spokesperson here at fort bliss. >> who confirmed. >> that those were troops that were deployed as part of this southern border mission. they are expecting 1500 of those troops in the coming days, active duty army and marines that are going to be helping to support that mission. and we're told that they're not going to be doing enforcement, but rather monitoring and helping out with efforts like building barriers and also assisting with some of those military flights, deportation flights. we saw the first one going out late yesterday from here, a source familiar telling us there were 75 to 80 migrants who were on

that plane. and we have now confirmed with guatemalan officials that it did land in guatemala very early this morning. so a lot going on here. but as you noted, the community here is also reacting. and we're hearing a lot from folks here who are concerned about these mass deportations and what it could mean for them, their families, their community members, and also from community leaders wanting to urge that they want to keep el paso a place that is safe for everyone. take a listen to some of what they had to say yesterday at a press conference. >> for years. >> this policy. >> has ensured a basic level of sacred trust, essential for a healthy and functioning community. the only currency we have as a community is trust. reversing the sensitive locations policy undermines community trust. it is a frontal attack on parents and students. it is an attack on the sick. it is an attack on those who

worship god. it is an attack on our churches and faith communities. >> and another thing that they really tried to emphasize to the public is that there are these safe spaces where ice is not able to target, and that includes schools, churches, hospitals, playgrounds, and also daycare centers. so to kind of ease some of the concerns that they're hearing, and we're hearing from folks here in the community as this deportation effort ramps up. ali. >> yeah, priscilla, really great reporting from the ground. and, julia, i'll once again use you as our resident sounding board because you are such an expert on this. but when you hear priscilla talking about those flights, going back to their to their native countries, is that normal? of course. >> i was. >> actually, just a week ago, still under the biden administration in harlingen, texas, where i watched over 100 hondurans board a plane to be deported to honduras. what's different is that was not a military plane. it looked like your average commercial jet. i got to walk on, look and see. it looks exactly like the plane

that i took down to the border to have them walk in. that is a stark image right there. and these are the images that the trump administration wants to show, to show this show of force around immigration. the three things that are different so far, the numbers, they've almost doubled what they would do on an average day. now they're going from about 280 to over 500. >> in terms of ice. >> activity, in terms of arrests by ice, they're using military planes and they're doing workforce raids. and i think that we're going to continue to see this sustained pattern of new activity, things we didn't see before. but it isn't the splash on day one that we thought there would be. and in part, that's because they're short on funding. >> you had reporting initially that they were going to be doing raids, for example, in chicago, and then those were rolled back. but i think what you're doing is so important here, because so many people are watching this administration in a flurry of activity, and they're trying to figure out how much of this is the traditional thing that happens in in immigration enforcement, or just when an administration comes in versus what's new here. >> and i'll say that this is

what i'm told is happening by sources i'm talking to, is that ice has target lists. they have people in communities that they want to go out and find. that takes a lot of work. i've been on this ride alongs. it takes about eight people to arrest one man. what happened is they're condensing that. so if they had a list of targets they wanted to arrest over a month, they're now trying to do that in a matter of a week in one place, and they're being told to take pictures so that we will put these out. and the american people will see this splash. the question is, what happens a month from now when they've gone through those resources, if congress hasn't allocated any more? >> yeah, a lot of questions, even as we're watching this unfold in real time. julia ainsley, erin mclaughlin, priscilla thompson, an absolute power panel. thank you for joining us. and coming up next, dissension in the ranks. the two republicans now saying they'll vote no on pete hegseth nomination for defense secretary. and if there are more. plus breaking overseas. hamas has just announced the names of the hostages scheduled to be released tomorrow. we'll tell you who they are. you're tell you who they are. you're watching msnbc reports. got an itchy throat from allergies?

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their sensations. to get started today. >> at sitter city. >> you're looking now at live pictures of president trump at a hurricane helene recovery briefing. right now in asheville, north carolina. we saw him land on the tarmac just a few minutes ago. so his day now of touring damage in north carolina and then out west later today, very much underway. we're going to keep an eye on that. but we're also following new developments as president trump's administration starts to take shape. the senate confirmed

john ratcliffe as director of the cia yesterday, joining secretary of state marco rubio as the second trump cabinet member to be confirmed by this congress. and just hours from now, pete hegseth, trump's nominee for secretary of defense, will face his final confirmation vote. this morning, president trump once again expressed his support for hegseth. >> look, whatever it is it is, he's a good man. i don't know what's going to happen. you never know in those things. but pete's a very, very good man. i hope he makes it. >> joining us now is nbc's sahil kapur from capitol hill and also with us, msnbc legal correspondent lisa rubin. before we get to what's going to happen on the congress side, lisa, you have important new reporting about hegseth. what is it that you're learning, ellie? >> i obtained a divorce decree and pete's divorce from samantha hegseth, his second wife. and in that 2018 document, there is a provision that obligates the parties not only to not say

negative things about the other in front of their children, but broadly commits them to refrain from engaging in any public discourse about the other, including through traditional or social media. that would be disparaging, and also to take reasonable steps to encourage their friends and family to do the same. that is not what we would call a traditional nondisclosure agreement. however, the wording of that non-disparagement provision is so broad that one divorce attorney told me that it could operate effectively as a restraint on speech, that it could prevent someone like samantha hegseth from saying anything about her former husband that could be construed by his side as negative, and may be an important disincentive for her speaking out. now, that could explain, for example, why she hasn't given any public statements other than a very tersely worded denial to nbc news of any physical abuse in her marriage. >> and the other piece of this, lisa, is during the confirmation

hearing, hegseth said he wasn't aware of any nondisclosure agreements that he was a part of. so you're saying that this is kind of same same but different, but was that a lie? >> you know, that's for other people to judge whether it was a lie. i will tell you that senator tim kaine, who is the person who posed those questions to pete hegseth, i asked him last night whether he felt that, senator, that pete hegseth answers to him were either untruthful or misleading. and through a spokesperson, senator kaine came back and said, yes, yes, he does, because this is sort of a distinction without difference. it's not entitled nondisclosure agreement. and i want to be clear with you and our viewers, a nondisclosure agreement is the kind that says you may not speak about x event or x person. that's not what this is. but again, functionally it is broad enough to inhibit a reasonable person, particularly a person that's already prone to this. this is not just an agreement. it's a court decree from saying anything that could be construed as negative. samantha hegseth has denied physical abuse in her marriage,

but she does not deny in the statement she gave to nbc news, a whole battery of other allegations made by her former sister in law, danielle hegseth. in that affidavit that was submitted to the senate armed services committee. that includes allegations that samantha hegseth was so fearful of pete hegseth that she hid in the closet once to protect her safety, and that she had a code word that she used with friends and family, including danielle hegseth herself, in case she ever needed to develop a plan to escape from her ex-husband. ali. >> sahil. the first thing i think of when i hear what lisa is saying about the non-disparagement agreement is the fact that one of the senators that's reluctant to support hegseth is senator thom tillis, who, in a statement to our team yesterday basically said, if i talk to anyone who has a firsthand account of any of these allegations, maybe that would move me. but i can't find anyone who has firsthand accounts that confirm them. >> yeah. >> ali, we'll find out in about nine hours whether this moves any votes. i'm not convinced that anything is going to move republicans at this point, for the simple reason. that this is

all happening in a political context. by that i mean donald trump as president is at his moment of maximum political capital, and he's chosen to spend it on confirming pete hegseth and these other controversial nominees, pressuring republicans. pretty vigorously with the support of his outside allies to get in line on these nominees. the basic structure of the senate, as you know, 53 republicans, they need 50 senators to confirm a nominee. there are only two republican senators with any meaningful history of going against the company line. that is, lisa murkowski and susan collins, both of whom are voting no. on hegseth. murkowski's grievances with hegseth are very notable. in her statement, she said he doubts or she said she doubts, his basic qualifications and judgment, past opposition that he's had to women serving in combat, allegations of financial mismanagement, sexual assault. excessive drinking, all of which he. >> denies, as. >> well as infidelity. >> in his past, which he does not deny. there are some republicans. >> who sounded skeptical at first, like senator joni ernst, but she's now a yes. i talked yesterday to senator roger wicker, the chairman of the armed services committee. he said he's not surprised. he

understands why collins and murkowski are voting against hegseth. but he's ironclad, in his view, that hegseth is the right man for this job. >> well. >> the white house also seems like they're doing their unofficial whip counts because as trump was leaving the white house just in the last few hours, he seemed to think that in addition to murkowski and collins, that mcconnell was also someone likely to vote no. he's also on our list. but ultimately, we will see how this vote shakes out later tonight. but this is just one sawhill of many controversial nominees. that battle is going to continue next week. can you talk about what the schedule is looking like? >> oh, yes. so let's start with the senate floor. after this 9 p.m. vote on pete hegseth. there's going to be a procedural vote to advance the nomination of kristi noem for department of homeland security. senator john thune, the majority leader, has also teed up floor votes on sean duffy for transportation secretary and scott bessent for treasury secretary. then next week, i would suggest for everyone watching circle the date thursday, january 30th on your calendar. that morning,

around the same time, they're going to be three confirmation hearings happening for rfk jr, for hhs secretary kash patel for fbi director and tulsi gabbard for director of national intelligence. i would expect there to be fireworks in each one of those hearings. >> i think you're absolutely right. and of course, that date is circled on my calendar. sahil kapoor, lisa rubin, thank you. and we've got breaking news for you now, just this last hour, hamas released the names of the four hostages who are expected to be released tomorrow as part of the israel-hamas ceasefire. one of the names on those lists is naama levy. she was kidnaped during the october 7th attack, and was seen in a video that quickly went viral around the world. on the first anniversary of the attack, my colleague jose diaz-balart spoke with namor's mother about what kept her going. >> knowing that she is there. >> she is alive. she is surviving despite the horrible. >> conditions and despite she. >> is. >> that she is deprived of her. freedom and. her very. basic

needs. that's what. >> keeps me going. >> i must, i cannot break. >> joining us now from jerusalem is nbc's daniele hamamdjian. daniele, who else do we expect to be released? good evening ali. >> who else. >> will be released. >> alongside her? well, we have. >> karina. >> ari, daniella. gilboa. naama levy and lili alba. >> all four, we are told by. >> hamas political official in doha. >> are alive. >> this has been confirmed. >> to us in. the past hour. >> all four, of course, were. female soldiers at the surveillance unit at. >> the nahal. >> oz military base. >> now, it's also. >> been confirmed. >> to us that in. >> exchange for. those female soldiers and remember that israeli officials had been saying all along leading up to the ceasefire deal that they knew. >> they. >> would have to pay a heavy price for those female soldiers. and that price is the release of prisoners serving life

sentences. >> in all. >> we're going to see 200 palestinian prisoners released. >> tomorrow, among them. >> 80 serving long sentences. >> and 120. >> serving life sentences. and as we understand it. >> they. >> will not be released into the west bank. >> they will. >> be released to a third country. where exactly is unclear? possibly. turkey? qatar? >> egypt? it is still unclear. >> now. we. >> there. had been. >> reports in israeli. >> media that. >> perhaps hamas would also. provide an. update on the. conditions of the remaining hostages. 26 now. that should be released in the first phase of this deal. >> it doesn't look like. >> it's going to happen. >> but as we've learned with this story, things. >> can change. >> by the hour. >> what i. >> want to point. >> out in regards to these four young women is. >> that. >> they were part of this. >> unit that worked to monitor. >> the border in. >> gaza, the rules where there. >> were. >> very strict. >> i remember. >> the. >> mother of one of the women who was. >> killed that. >> day telling me that, you know. >> when they had.

>> wanted to drink something, they couldn't drink it normally. >> they had. >> to. >> drink through a straw because their eyes could never leave the screen. and in the. >> months leading. >> up to. >> october 7th. >> they had seen unusual activity. they had noticed unusual. >> activity by hamas. >> they saw them. >> train, and they put that. >> in a report that they. >> presented to their superiors. >> and the parents of that, one. >> of the women who died. >> told me that. >> nothing was ever done. >> and if it was, they didn't know. >> about it. >> but their. >> warnings were not listened to. >> and so there was, understandably. fury among the. parents of those young women. and we are. >> going. to see tomorrow. >> if everything goes according. to plan, the release of these four. >> female soldiers. >> karina. >> ariel, daniella gilboa. >> and. >> naama levy, and lily elbagir. who i should. >> say is. >> the. >> last hostage. >> to appear in a video. >> by. >> hamas. >> the prime. >> minister's office here has confirmed that they have. >> received a list. >> they have not confirmed the name on that list just now. >> but they. >> have. also said that.

>> they. >> will provide a. >> response. later this evening. ali daniele hamamdjian, thank you for the update and i want to take us back now to north carolina. we showed you that president trump was getting a briefing from local officials on the ground there about the recovery efforts in north carolina. of course, after that hurricane that ravaged the state late last year. kelly o'donnell is on the ground there. and kelly, i think he said something that's newsy and that follows what he said at the top of our hour. >> well, so often with president trump, he telegraphs what's on his mind. and that is always a clue to us to then listen intently. because when he got to the briefing with local officials and so forth, he talked about actually disbanding fema, the federal emergency management agency. and that, again, is stark because the threat of disaster and the need for a national response is always active. we've all seen how often that happens, whether it is fires, floods, tornadoes,

any kinds of issues where people are in crisis and need support. so the president is clearly expressing displeasure with how it works. he called it very bureaucratic. he was unhappy with the response under president biden, administrator deanne criswell was heading the agency during that time. and she, of course, was on the ground in all of these places. and fema has an enormous task. whenever a community is hit with life altering crises, people need housing, they need help. they need money to sort of bridge the gap of the initial days. they need support to pay for temporary housing. they need sometimes hotel accommodations, food, all sorts of things. plus following through the kinds of aid that are available. it does, in fact, take a very large bureaucracy to handle all of that, to administer checks, support programs, to gather

resources, things like when in these crises we see them pre-staged water and different types of food supplies and so forth in an area prior to an expected hurricane, for example. we see how that all works out. certainly the president is trying to remake how agencies respond. he's he's talking about the costs. those things are very in sort of the trump lane of how he approaches government. but this is a very striking assertion from the president that he wants to do that. we're in kind of real time, you know, testing my knowledge here, but i don't believe he can disband the federal emergency management agency without congress. it was established by congress, but it is an executive office of the president, part of the government. so there may be some overlap there. basically. ali, there's more work for us to do here to understand what he is

saying. what are the specifics of what he is saying he's signing, what is his plan and that we don't yet have from the new administration to better understand what all of this means. but at a time when he is coming into communities, this one here in north carolina that has had months of disaster, where he will go to california, where it's still fresh and at times the fires are still actively burning to raise the specter of changing how federal help works is certainly an interesting timing to bring this up. >> ali kelly o'donnell always listening intently. and we're going to do the same thing, listening to the president still in that briefing there. >> to sign. >> that note. well, we're honored by that. lincoln riley i was there at the time, and we had a big meeting with the parents right after that horrible thing took place. and we have an act. you all know what that act represents. and it was a bipartisan bill. many democrats signed, signed on to it. that's something that is a tribute to lincoln, a beautiful

young lady who was killed viciously by an illegal alien. and we passed a very powerful bill, and it was just approved. and we'll have a ceremony sometime very shortly. i'll be signing it. in other words, if you're asking, i will definitely be signing it. okay. yeah. >> mr. president, the. security detail. for anthony fauci. >> was terminated. >> last night. >> and i'm wondering if you have. >> any comment. >> about what. >> the security. >> detail for anthony fauci was terminated last night. sir, do you have a comment? >> no. i think you know, when you work for the government, at some point, your security detail comes off and you know you can't have them forever. so i think it's very standard. if it would be for somebody else, you wouldn't be asking the question. he questions very fair. but you know, you work for government. we took some off other people too. but you can't have a security detail for the rest of your life because you work for government. >> we take. >> it. >> off, sir.

>> we'll see what happens. >> partially responsible if something. >> were to happen. >> as you say. >> doctor fauci. >> no. >> john bolton. >> no. you know, they all made a lot of money. they could hire their own security to all the people you're talking about. they can go out. i can give them some good numbers. they're very good security people. they can hire their own security. they all made a lot of money. fauci made a lot of money. they all did. so if they, you know, felt that strongly, i think that certainly i would not take responsibility. >> north carolina. >> is a state that. >> relies on trade and manufacturing. >> are you going to have an announcement on new tariffs coming soon? is there a. timeline now? >> yeah. the tariffs are going to make our country rich. they're going to be a rich, rich country very soon. tariffs are going to make it rich. and competence we have common sense competence and tariffs. the word tariff is one of the most beautiful words in the dictionary. >> jonathan reynolds. >> the business secretary. >> of the. united kingdom. >> said that there's an even trade between the us.

>> and the. >> uk. >> so they shouldn't. >> have tariffs. does trade imbalances or a balanced trade affect tariffs and. >> your decisions. >> yeah. unbalance and balance and also deficits. like with canada we lose $200 billion a year with canada. that's because we allow them to make cars. we allow them to take lumber. we don't need their cars. we don't need their lumber. we don't need their food products because we make the same products right on the other side of the border. it's sort of crazy. so we've just allowed that, you know, bad management has allowed it over the last four years in particular to become very imbalanced. and i said to i call him governor trudeau, but he's prime minister trudeau. when he was prime minister, i asked him, why would we do that? why? and he was unable to give me an answer. he said, i don't know. and i said, do you think it's fair that we're paying $200 billion to keep canada going? and what would happen? i said, i asked him. >> you've been listening to

president trump on the ground in north carolina at a briefing with local officials now taking questions from reporters. if you wanted a reminder of what the trump era pace is like, this hour is a really good one. that wraps it up for me. i'm ali vitali. you can catch me every weekday morning at 5 a.m. weekday morning at 5 a.m. eastern on way too early. andre incoming dishes. —ahhh! —duck! dawn powerwash flies through 99% of grease and grime in half the time. yeah, it absorbs grease five times faster. even replaces multiple cleaning products. ooh, those suds got game. dawn powerwash. the better grease getter. what's up, you seem kinda sluggish today. things aren't really movin'. you could use some metamucil. metamucil's psyllium fiber helps keep your digestive system moving. so you can feel lighter and more energetic. metamucil keeps you movin'. and try the 2 week challenge at metamucil.com at harbor freight, we do business differently from the other guys. we design and test our own tools and sell them directly to you. no middleman. just quality tools you can trust at prices

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>> will enter a cease fire. >> in the nation's capital. >> philadelphia. >> el paso. >> the palisades. >> from msnbc. world headquarters. >> each week on my podcast, i'm joined by uniquely. qualified guests who. >> help me take. >> a big picture, look at the. >> issues. >> like representative. >> jasmine crockett. >> late night. >> host seth. >> meyers. >> former attorney general. eric holder. >> and many more. why is this happening? listen now. >> right now on. >> andrea mitchell reports. >> president trump. in north. >> carolina