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>> good morning and welcome back. 11 a.m. eastern, 8 a.m. pacific. i'm jose diaz-balart. we begin this hour with breaking news about a new push to end the war in ukraine right now. top u.s. senior administration officials are in saudi arabia as they prepare for negotiations with russian officials. secretary of state marco rubio arrived early today. he met with saudi arabia's foreign minister. his talks are expected to begin there formally tomorrow. rubio will be joined by national security advisor mike wallace and special envoy steve witkoff, who will be participating in the talks with their russian counterparts. as of right now, no ukrainian officials are expected to take part in these talks. zelenskyy spoke exclusively with nbc's kristen welker about the trump administration's efforts to reach a peace deal. >> have you. >> been given any assurances that ukraine will have an equal seat at the negotiating table?

>> so i will never accept any decisions between the united states and russia about ukraine. there is no any leader in the world who can really make a deal with putin without us, about us. >> joining us now, nbc's chief foreign correspondent, richard engel in ukraine, nbc's garrett haig from the white house. and kevin tibbles, former nbc news correspondent and the writer and reporter of the new documentary putin's endgame. the stakes beyond ukraine. so, richard, as these talks are set to get underway in saudi arabia, russia continues to attack ukraine's civilian infrastructure. what's the latest where you are right now? >> well. >> there were more attacks in this area overnight. there are widespread power outages all across southern. ukraine because russian forces are using drones. >> they're using ballistic. >> missiles to attack the energy grid here, trying to freeze people into submission. it is one of the tactics that we've

seen, seen russia use for the last three years. and it is, particularly in these winter months, a particularly. cruel policy going after the civilian population, because there are many children, there are many elderly people here who suffer greatly when you cut the cut the power, cut the heat, cut the water. so, so this is a place that i think it's. >> fair to say everyone. >> here wants peace. they just don't agree on what the price. necessarily will be. and people are watching this process play out, starting. >> in saudi arabia. >> and later in the week, there expected to be talks between the trump administration and ukrainian officials here in ukraine. and people here are watching this. with with mixed feelings. >> they want. >> to see an end of the war. they want these russian. strikes to stop, but they don't want to see ukraine left in a completely vulnerable. position where the war could could happen again,

where russia could invade in a year or 2. >> or 3. >> so one of the things you hear most from both civilians, but particularly from the ukrainian government, is talk about security guarantees. they either want to become part of nato, they want to have a lot more weapons so that they can become a harder target. they want guarantees from europe. they want something in exchange for. a peace deal. they don't want to feel as vulnerable as they do right now, and have to go through all of this again. and also, let me just say before i finish, it's. >> great. >> to see kevin tibbles back on nbc air, and it's. great to see you. welcome back. >> yeah, absolutely. that's something that we all celebrate being able to have our conversations with with kevin. and let me get to kevin in just a minute, because, garrett, i want to ask you about specificity. do we know any more from the white house on these talks in riyadh? and then the role or lack of role by ukraine

in these talks? >> yeah, look, ukraine is not going to have a seat at the table in these initial discussions. that's clear. although the white house and state department have said that this ukraine will be involved in discussions going forward. i can tell you a little bit about what these discussions are. the state department's spokesman with secretary rubio said this is not about fixing all of the united states and russia's relations that have gone completely south since the start of this invasion, but it is meant to these talks now in riyadh, focused narrowly on essentially following up on the 90 minute phone call that president trump and vladimir putin held last week to see if the russians are serious. that's the language that the state department spokesperson used. they want to try to feel out whether this conversation is just a conversation. remember, president zelensky warned donald trump that he doesn't think the russians are telling the truth. these three men, secretary rubio, mike waltz, the national security adviser, and steve witkoff, who was a longtime friend of donald trump's before he became the special envoy, are

his most trusted advisers on foreign policy. they want to feel out the russians and decide, is this something that they can, in fact move forward with, or is this overture not serious? >> so these so is the white house kind of describing this not as ukraine peace talks, but rather, well, how are they describing this? >> well, it is very much ukraine peace talks, but it doesn't necessarily go beyond that. although the president himself has openly speculated about adding russia back into the g-8, kind of taking more steps to bring russia into the fold globally. the line from the state department here is this is ukraine peace talks now, broader russian-american relations later. >> and kevin, again, i want to applaud also the opportunity to continue our conversations. it's good to see you. i know that you spent, what, ten days across eastern europe speaking with people about their concerns. here's part of your documentary. take a look. >> all of us are thinking.

>> that that. what happens in the next. >> can we. >> be the. >> next target? >> we could. >> be next. >> what happens to estonia if putin wins ukraine? >> that's a. >> we never thought about it, actually. >> why? >> i don't know. >> it's terrifying. >> to think about this. yes. >> and the part of our brain is just blocking this scary part. >> yeah. i mean, that's a that that last conversation kevin, was particularly interesting is we haven't thought about it because it's just too fear. it's just too scary to think what could happen. how concerned are people there with russia's expansionist policies? >> well, they are quite concerned. i would go so far as to say that they're afraid, and i think that they have the experience, as history has shown, that they have reason to be afraid. these are people who

have been dealing with the propaganda that comes out of russia for several years. as the foreign minister of estonia said to me, you know, we are all watching this very closely because the ukrainians are fighting our war for us right now. obviously, they're very grateful for the fact that ukraine is putting up such a fight, but obviously ukraine needs more support. it needs nato support. estonia, finland and sweden just joined nato recently. they're all looking to nato to make sure that europe remains safe. the problem is that what we're hearing now is seems to be a lot of indecision coming from the american side. and that is are we going to support nato? what does article five mean? the people in europe believe article five means that if one member nation is attacked, all member nations will show up to help with the

fight. now people are starting to say, are the americans going to be there? the british are there. the british have troops. we have we have bases in in europe as well. the british are in estonia. but getting back to your original question, jose, people are afraid in the second world war, the soviets, it seems putin wants to recreate some form of russian empire in the second world war, the soviets took the baltic states. they took the citizenry of estonia and either murdered them or sent them to a sent them to siberia to be worked to death in labor camps. so these people know their history very well, and they are looking very closely, and they want ukraine to be at the table. >> yeah. i mean, and there are so many lessons of what the soviet union did vis a vis europe, not only eastern europe, but 1956, in hungary, 1968 in,

in czechoslovakia. i'm just wondering, richard, and you have such experience throughout the world as we see that things are being discussed now in riyadh, not in europe when the european, western european leaders are now meeting in in the elysee palace in paris. i'm just wondering, richard, how is this new axis of influence shaking the nato alliance, the european power structure? >> so we talked. >> a. >> bit about the. >> feeling here. >> in ukraine. >> they want the war to end, but they don't want it to end on unfavorable terms. and there is an old expression in diplomacy. if you're not at the negotiating table, you're on the negotiating table. >> that's the view from here. >> they worry. >> that they're on the. negotiating table right. >> now, and that president trump and president putin, starting in saudi arabia, starting with that phone call, are going to divide up this country among themselves. in europe, they're

watching this very closely as as kevin tibbles was saying there, they're right on ukraine's border. and they worry that if the united states effectively capitulates to president putin gives 20% of this country up. and that's what russia occupies right now, about 25, 20% of ukraine. if president trump convinces. >> ukraine, forces. >> ukraine to give up that territory in exchange for very little, that it would send. >> a. >> message to putin that he could expand further, that that the. >> west isn't. >> as strong as it. used to be against russia, that that putin has room to push. >> room to grow. >> room to reestablish some sort of russian empire. there is a sense. >> in many european. >> countries right now that the basic world order that was established after the second world war. >> that favored. >> nato, that favored a

democratic alliance between the united states and europe, is weakening right now and that a new age of strongman is on the rise. >> richard engel, garrett hake and kevin tibbles, thank you so much. so appreciate your time. up next, we'll take you live to kentucky, where a deadly string of severe storms battered the region. last. governor andy beshear. how the state is bracing for more extreme weather on the forecast. plus, why elon musk's department of government efficiency is seeking access to taxpayer data. and later, how a major backlog of immigration cases could get a lot worse as efforts to shrink the government continue. we're back in 90s. you're watching jose diaz-balart you're watching jose diaz-balart reports on msnbc. time to press rewind with... neutrogena rapid wrinkle repair. it has derm-proven retinol... ...expertly formulated... ...to target skin cell turnover... ...and fights not one—but 5 signs of aging.

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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 at least 12 people have died as severe storms ravaging the south, including a mother and her daughter, who were swept away in their car by the floods. emergency crews have made more than 1000 rescues across kentucky as rivers surge to historic levels. nbc's kathy park joins us now from hazard, kentucky. kathy. good morning. what else are you seeing there now? >> hey, josie. good morning to you. yeah. parts of the south. >> are now in. >> recovery mode after. a weekend of wild weather. here in

kentucky. >> some spots. >> saw six. >> inches of rain. and that caused. >> these. >> creeks and rivers. >> to overflow. over to. >> my left here. this is. >> a north fork of the kentucky river. >> it has. receded significantly, but it's. >> still rushing. >> and you see. >> a lot of the debris. trapped along the banks. >> right now. >> the governor, as. >> you. >> mentioned. >> said there were. >> over 1000 rescues this weekend. and currently there are hundreds of roads still. >> impacted by standing water. >> and we just found out from the governor just. moments ago. that the death toll has now climbed to 11. that number perhaps could climb because we are still in a search. >> and rescue. >> mode right now. but it wasn't just kentucky. here in tennessee, also across the. >> south. >> they were dealing with some flood challenges. >> as well. >> in fact, in obion county. >> tennessee, a. >> levee actually broke and flooded entire neighborhoods. >> and the extreme. >> weather is also being blamed for spawning a tornado in alabama. and jose, i should also point out that up north in new

england, several inches of snow fell in that area. and this morning, hundreds of thousands of customers without power in the northeast and mid-atlantic states. but adding. >> insult to. >> injury. >> as you can. >> see right now. >> things have cleared up in kentucky. but in the next 24 hours, things. >> will be changing. >> very quickly. it will get colder and we're expecting more snow on the way. jose. >> kathy park, thank you so very much. and with us now, the governor of kentucky, andy beshear. governor, i thank you so very much. i know what a difficult time this is. and you've said that this is one of the most severe weather events your state has experienced in at least a decade. take us to that. what was it like? >> it's been tough. we have had flash flooding all across kentucky on saturday and going into sunday. we still have now riverbank flooding in multiple parts of the state. in fact, we're doing an evacuation of an apartment complex right now. so we are still in the midst of this emergency, hopefully moving

to our recovery phase statewide soon. but the breadth of it from the furthest west counties having roads closed due to mudslides and rockslides, to still having water rising in parts of our east, this is a significant weather event that is sadly taking the lives of 11 of my fellow kentuckians. so you got a lot of families that are hurting right now. we need the country praying for them. >> indeed. governor, as you you say that as of right now, there are still, you know, search and rescue and there are still rescues going on. what is that look like? and then and just you were just commenting and just how broad this disaster is. >> so we are primarily focusing the search and rescue now in eastern parts of the state where the river hasn't fully crested, where thankfully able to get helicopters in the air today for

the first time because the ceiling's been so low since saturday. really important that we do as much as we can today and tomorrow, because we're about to get hit by a snow storm. and we've already seen videos of water rescues in the midst of snow coming down with power out in many parts of our state. we need to get our people to safe places. we've opened our state parks where we've told them, come on in if it's days or weeks, we have got a warm, safe place for you. and you're our people in our neighbors. we're going to take care of you. thankfully, we have extra search and rescue teams in from fema and from our surrounding states. so while sadly, we've had a lot of practice in this, and our first responders do this incredibly well, and thanks to the national weather service, we were able to pre-position our assets. having so many other folks coming in and helping out is helping us make again over 1000 rescues. and that was just in the first 24 hours.

>> it just, you know, governor, i never forget, you know, that massive tornado that ripped through your state and others more than 100 miles long, you know, coming down in different parts a couple of years ago, just a solidarity, the extraordinary love that kentuckians have for their fellow man and how much they're willing to come forward and help even when they may have lost some as well. i know you, you said you're planning to apply for individual assistance from the trump administration today. the president has already approved your disaster declaration. what more do you need? >> well, what we need is, is that application once submitted to go through. i do want to thank secretary noem and the president, who have responded to all of our requests, turned around the declaration of emergency about as quickly as as i've ever seen. fema is with us here in the eoc, and they brought in resources, extra search and rescue teams. so really grateful for how they're

operating with us. what we need for our people is continued support. we've opened a relief fund, the team kentucky storm relief fund, that's going to help us pay for funerals, at least 11 of them that are coming up. and then we're going to have some people, you know, hundreds displaced right now that are going to need help getting back up on their feet. so what we see is a lot of resources coming during the emergency phase. but for some of these families, it's going to be years digging out. and there's going to be a lot of mourning in these communities that have lost these children of god, taken from us far too soon. >> governor, i thank you very much. all the best to you. and thank you. >> thank you. >> up next, why the d.o.j. just fired multiple immigration judges despite an already historic case backlog. and later, what came out of a critical meeting between secretary of state rubio and israeli prime minister netanyahu? you're watching jose

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with xfinity mobile. (800) 357-8365. optima. tax relief. it's president trump's first 100 days. and rachel maddow and alex wagner will be bringing clarity to the policies being implemented. alex will be in the field reporting from the frontlines. >> what issue matters to you the most? >> and rachel will be hosting five nights a week. >> important stories are going to be told through field work and frontline reporting about the consequences of government action. >> alex wagner, reporting from across the country and the rachel maddow show weeknights at 9:00 on msnbc. >> 24 hours this morning, new escalations in president trump's immigration crackdown as he marks four weeks back in office. here's what white house border czar tom homan had to say about the pace of immigration arrests. >> i'm not happy with the numbers. >> because we got a lot of criminals to find. so what. we're talking about right now

are increasing number of teams, increase the targeting. we got to do more. and i've been real clear on that. and that's why we're making the operational changes. now that i requested. >> this is the justice department fired multiple immigration judges despite a backlog of around 3.5 million pending cases. joining us now, nbc's julia ainsley and alan, or an immigration attorney and past president of the american immigration lawyers association. so, julia, immigration backlogs were up about 44% between the end of fiscal 2023 and 2024. why are these judges being fired now? >> well, that's a. >> good question. >> when you look at. >> that, over. >> 3 million cases pending. >> those cases have. >> to. >> be adjudicated by these judges. but look, the judges they chose. >> it's no accident here. these were all. >> appointed by the. >> biden administration. i think something. >> we have to explain is. that the immigration courts. >> don't. >> work in the same way. >> that they. >> do from. >> other courts. >> that we see across this country. they're actually an. >> executive branch function. they all run under. >> the justice department. so it's perfectly within the.

purview of the justice department to fire. >> people who might have been appointed from. >> another administration. >> and hire new people. >> especially if they want. >> judges who might be. >> more strict on. >> asylum or other things. but the thing is, is. >> those numbers, jose, it's hard to get around that, especially because it has historically been so hard to hire. >> enough immigration judges. sometimes they'll. bring over people who used. >> to be. >> prosecutors from ice. sometimes people will join out. >> of law school, but it's a. >> hard thing to. >> get into, mainly because the dockets are. >> so long. the pay is. >> not. >> great. >> and it's hard for them to ever really get above that. 303 40 number. >> of immigration judges. just under the previous trump administration, it was around 280. >> the union has said they need more judges. it's a long process. >> it's hard to get. >> so while politically this might make sense, logistically, this really sets the trump administration back. if they want to. clear that backlog. >> and get. >> more people with final orders of deportation, which is exactly. >> what. >> tom homan. >> says they're trying to. >> get to. >> yeah. i mean, alan, with your long expertise and your view of

history, what do you make of this? and as julia says, i mean, you know, every administration has the right to do in the case of these immigration judges, to take them out if they were put in by the previous administration. but what do you make of this? >> so i don't think that that's necessarily the case, because we've never seen this before in any other administration where there's been this number of judges. removed that were already approved. so they'd already been through the sort of stage and they were ready to sort of take the bench. so you can't say that they were doing anything on cases because their cases had not been adjudicated. so there's no way to make a valid opinion about them other than they were appointed by the former president. in addition to that, they removed a lot of leadership, one of them being carrie dole, who is a very experienced immigration litigator, both inside the government and outside the government, who is sort of leading some of these cases. the national approval rate for asylum under the biden administration was at 36%, which was down from 50% before. so sort of saying, we're moving these judges and then at the same time asking congress for more money to hire additional judges sends a very confusing

message about you really being serious about enforcement. and so that's what the story is right now. and immigration right now, due process and humanity is under attack. and what we're doing is not sort of meeting the needs of the people by saying we want more judges, but we're going to fire these judges, because now i don't know anyone who wants to be an article two judge, because you can be removed by the legislature. we were already very much in front of the court saying we need them to be in article three, like the supreme court, so we won't have to worry about this in the future. and so they have autonomy over the justice to these humanitarian cases. >> yeah. i mean, and, alan, 3.6 million cases, that's a backlog. i mean, how long does that take on a regular, you know, fiscal year? >> so in a regular fiscal year, you're looking at about 4 to 5 years for an asylum case. and that's not even speaking about the new asylum cases that are going to be filed by the end of tps. so it's really bad management and bad planning. >> and, alan, meanwhile, president trump posted on truth social yesterday about the 14th amendment. he wrote in quote,

by being in our country. it had everything to do with giving citizenship to former slaves. how does the 14th amendment language specifically state who can or cannot get citizenship through birthright? >> it does not. and this has been clearly established by all the courts, whether they were appointed by conservative or not. i don't understand this is sort of a shot in the dark to try to get congress to maybe change this or have a constitutional convention to sort of move this forward. but this is sort of the weak undergirding that in black history month. it's sort of unsettling to me to hear him sort of make these sort of claims, because the constitution isn't about just one group of people, it's about who we are. and that's why the constitution is under attack right now for these fundamental rights that are given to everyone. you saw tom homan go on cnn yesterday and say that he wanted to go after aoc for telling people what their rights were, regardless of what their status is in the country. that's something that's protected under the first amendment. so we see this problematic implementation of the constitution. these are shared values under attack under this administration and

specifically in immigration. >> julia ainsley, thank you so much. after the break, an update on president trump's sweeping efforts to shrink the federal bureaucracy. what agency is facing cuts next? plus, the white house appeals to the nation's highest court as part of its bid to fire the head of a key watchdog agency. you're watching jose diaz balart reports on msnbc. >> i feel like new sunglasses, like a brand new pair of jeans. like a brand new pair of jeans. brand new. when emergency strikes, first responders rely on the latest technology. that's why t-mobile created t-priority built for the 5g era. only t-priority dynamically dedicates more capacity for first responders. here's to getting better with age. here's to beating these two every thursday. help fuel today with boost high protein,

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>> 35 past the hour. nbc news has learned an irs employee who is affiliated with elon musk's department of government efficiency, or dodge, is expected to seek access to an irs system that houses sensitive taxpayer information, according to an administration official. and the trump administration is also going to the u.s. supreme court, asking the justices to allow the firing of the head of the federal agency dedicated to protecting whistleblowers. with us now, nbc news white house correspondent aaron gilchrist and west palm beach near mar a lago. lance trover, a republican strategist and former spokesperson for doug burgum's presidential campaign and usa today washington bureau chief susan page. so, aaron, what rationale is dodge giving for seeking access to all this irs system information? >> the house is really reinforcing what it said before, that this is part of the mission to weed out waste and fraud. we're talking here about an irs

employee who is working with musk's office, and they're expected to seek access to this integrated data retrieval system. that's according to an administration official. and the system lets irs employees access taxpayer accounts. as you said, it contains that taxpayer identification number information, retirement account information. it can also be used to generate documents for collection actions, according to the irs website. and the official said that this employee is carrying out the mission of doge and is acting legally and has the appropriate security clearances to access this system. a white house spokesperson was asked about this and said that it takes direct access to this system to identify waste, to identify fraud and abuse, and then to fix those things. >> jose and erin, we're also hearing that some employees at the federal aviation administration have been let go. what more can you tell us about that? >> yeah, i was able to speak with a union leader this morning about that. and i'm told that

close to 300 members of the professional aviation safety specialists union received some termination notices over the weekend. we're talking about maintenance mechanics, aeronautical information specialists, environmental protection specialists, as well, aviation safety assistants, among others in that union. and the union president says that this is going to increase the workloads and further tax a workforce that is already stretched pretty thin. i want to show you part of the statement that he released over the weekend that says, these are not nameless, faceless bureaucrats. they are our family, friends and neighbors. they contribute to our communities. many military veterans are among them. it is shameful to toss aside dedicated public servants who have chosen to work on behalf of their fellow americans. and of course, jose, we know that there were several other agencies that were touched by these termination notices that went out over the weekend at different points throughout the weekend. >> aaron gilchrist, thank you so very much. so, susan, the doj's

employees request to access the irs system comes right in the middle of tax season. could this affect people's tax returns or the process? >> the honest answer is i don't know. but we assume that firing a lot of workers will affect the agency's ability to do its work. and, you know, i'm struck by the fact that dodge has targeted agencies that tend to be unpopular with americans. you know, the irs is not the most popular agency around. that's also true for foreign aid, for illegal immigration. so i think they've been pretty strategic in thinking about who their early targets are. they're not going after at the moment, things like social security and medicare, even though they are much richer targets in terms of the amount of money that the united states spends on them. jose. >> yeah. how do you think this is playing outside the beltway when you, as you say, i mean, the targets so far have been the probably least popular parts of the federal government. >> i think it depends on whether americans see these as faceless

bureaucrats that they assume aren't really working very hard, or whether they see them as people in their community who they know who are doing jobs that they want them to do as as service to them, as americans. and maybe that's the maybe that's the battle that's going to go on right now. you know, there are federal workers don't only work in washington, they work in every state in this country, in just about every community. so that may be a discussion that we're seeing, we're going to be seeing in the future as these cuts go on. >> lance mehl, the federal courts have blocked some of the president's executive orders and actions. he's now asking the supreme court to allow him to fire one of the government's top ethics watchdogs. what role are the courts going to play or have started to play in all of this? >> well, this is what the bureaucracy in dc wants. they want to slow down this process as much as possible. so they're really their only avenue is to go to the courts and much of this. and that's where you're going to see it's going to be an epic battle from here on out.

but i don't think it's going to slow the trump folks down one bit. and i would point to you ask about like what it's looking like outside the beltway. axios had a story on friday where they did a focus group with swing state voters, people who voted for joe biden in 2020 2020 and people who voted for donald trump in 2020. for every single person in that focus group said, full speed ahead, keep going. doing what you're doing. elon musk and donald trump when it comes to breaking up this bureaucratic cabal here in washington, d.c. add to that the 53% approval rating that donald trump has from the cbs poll a couple of weeks ago, and i say voters are i mean, they're totally in with him and elon musk saying full speed ahead. >> and so, lance, is there a point you think, where that could change? >> well, i anything, anything could change. but it would seem to me what the voters said on november 5th and what they're saying right now, they seem to be completely happy with what

he's doing. and so for all this moaning and wailing i hear out of this bureaucratic cabal here in dc and the democrats doing it, it seems that voters are just completely unfazed by it right now. they really want to see a sea change in this town. and i think we are a much different country when it comes to some of these issues than we were eight years ago or even four years ago. we might not have been having this discussion, but this is a very unhappy electorate out there, and they want to see some real change in this country. >> and, susan, i mean, in less than a month, doge has been behind firing of thousands of federal employees, frozen billions of dollars in federal funding, sifted through all kinds of data. is this something you think is unstoppable at this point? >> well, the only guardrail that's emerged so far has been the courts. i think lance is right about that. congress has been compliant. we haven't seen the really massive protests we saw during the first trump term. but i do think in the end, what will determine what americans think about what is happening with this administration will depend on what happens. it will depend on the results. do the

tariffs that president trump is imposing fuel inflation. that was one of the big reasons, one of the big concerns americans had in the election last year are the results that he delivers down the road, what he promised to do. and that will be the test for what? how americans react to what he's doing now. >> and last. what's that period, do you think? what's the test period to see when those results come in or not? for the american people? >> well, i think if you look at the polling that's been out there already and in the focus group activity that we've seen out there, voters are giving the president a lot of leeway. i don't know that there's an exact time frame on it, but i think they're going to give him a long road to get some of this stuff done. i think they understand how entrenched the bureaucracy is here, how to break up the status quo, how difficult that is. and i think they've also said, look, they realize that getting prices down overnight just isn't realistic. and i think they're going to give him a lot of leeway on that as well. so i think he's got a lot of rope here to move forward. >> lance trover and susan page,

thank you both so very much. up next, as a fragile ceasefire holds in the middle east, three more hostages were released by hamas after nearly 500 days in captivity, including an american. all this as israeli prime minister netanyahu praises president trump's controversial proposal to reshape gaza. you're watching jose diaz-balart watching jose diaz-balart reports on msnbc. want a next level clean? swish with the whoa of listerine. it kills 99.9% of bad breath germs for five times more cleaning power than brushing and flossing alone. get a next level clean... ahhhhh with listerine. feel the whoa! blink nutri tears. it works differently than drops. blink nutri tears is a once daily supplement clinically proven to hydrate from within, helping your eyes produce more of their own tears to promote lasting,

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>> 48 hours. turning now to the middle east, where today marks 500 days since the october 7th hamas attack on israel. cease fire is holding after hamas released three more hostages on saturday, including israeli american sagi dekel, whose daughter was born while he was held hostage. he met her for the first time this weekend. meanwhile, secretary of state marco rubio met with prime minister netanyahu yesterday. secretary rubio praised president trump's controversial plan for rebuilding gaza. >> the president has also been very bold about his view of what the future for gaza should be. not the same tired ideas of the past, but something that's bold and something that, frankly took courage and vision in order to outline. and it may have shocked and surprised many. but what cannot continue is the same cycle. >> nbc news correspondent hala gorani joins us now from jerusalem. thank you. what's the

latest on these negotiations for the next phase of the cease fire? because this saturday release of these three hostages was really key and critical. it seemed as though for a while, hamas was doubtful whether they would be releasing these three hostages. what's their condition at this hour, and what can we expect going forward? >> icu. >> well, these are all crucial questions. their condition, at least from what we could observe on saturday, was that they looked in better shape, relatively speaking, than the hostages who'd been released the week before. of course, keep in mind the contingent of three hostages released on saturday were significantly younger than the men who were freed by hamas just the previous week. apologies, by the way, the call to prayer this evening has started sounding, which is probably what our viewers are able to hear right now. now, as far as phase two, as many of the people watching know, this cease fire agreement, that is very

fragile. it has to be said, between israel and hamas takes place over three phases. we are currently in phase one, the release of 33 israeli hostages in exchange for over 1000 palestinians. we have just about 14 israeli hostages left to be released. there are some who are believed to be dead, others who are live hostages and expected to be released this saturday if things go according to plan. phase two would lead to a whole other reality in gaza. if indeed that phase, you know, becomes a reality. and that would be the withdrawal of israeli forces from the gaza strip. the israeli prime minister has instructed his team in cairo today to negotiate the implementation of phase one. and after a cabinet security meeting, would then inform them about the way forward regarding phase two. and that would happen in doha. but so many questions still about whether this will all hold, because, as you mentioned, hamas

said it would delay the release of the three who were freed on saturday because it says israel has not held up its end of the bargain with deliveries and aid trucks. back to you, jose. >> hala gorani, thank you so very much. appreciate it. up next, how about we go over some good news to start the week watching jose diaz-balart watching jose diaz-balart reports on msnbc. with fatigue and light-headedness, i knew something was wrong. then i saw my doctor and found out i have afib, and that means there's about a 5 times greater risk of stroke. symptoms like irregular heartbeat, heart racing, chest pain, shortness of breath, fatigue, or light-headedness, can come and go. but if you have afib, the risk of stroke is always there. if you have one or more symptoms, get checked out. making that appointment can help you get ahead of stroke risk. this is no time to wait. got eyelid itching, crusties and swelling that won't go away? it could be...

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when you sign up to be a new vip only@fabletics.com. >> msnbc presents a new original podcast hosted by jen psaki. each week, she and her guests explore how the democratic party is facing this political moment and where it's headed next. the blueprint with jen psaki. listen, now. >> we're going to start with breaking news on capitol hill. >> mounting questions over the future of tiktok in the us. >> reporting from philadelphia. >> el paso. >> in the palisades, virginia. >> from msnbc world headquarters here. >> in new york. 56 past the

hour. what do you say that we wrap up these two hours with some good news? >> talk about a. >> special delivery. >> driver ever. >> this new jersey neighborhood uniting to celebrate. ups driver anthony romano's retirement after almost 40 years on the road. for anthony, this was more than just a job. these customers, well, he considers them family. >> when i walked off, all the memories that i had throughout the years were there. it made my job for 38 years so special. >> i love you guys. >> back. >> how are you? >> and there was hug. >> you are one i think about. >> after hugs. >> so great to see you. >> oh my gosh. >> after hug. >> at norfolk county agricultural high school in walpole, massachusetts for

beloved lunch lady betty duquette, the 81 year old who recently retired, honored when the school named a building after her. the same building where she worked for more than 40 years. >> teachers. staff. office workers and most of all, my family of students whom i love and care about. i will remember you always. >> could you? >> it was. so much love in laredo, texas. look at this warm welcome back for fifth grader kiara verdugo. a real fighter who's back at school after winning her two year battle with cancer. the hallways at laguardia elementary lined with students, staff and heartfelt messages of hope. >> my friends taking care of me and i really like this because i

never had anything like this experience. >> just do it. >> near cincinnati. unbelievable strength and profound bravery. that's mom ali campbell, surrounded by family, shaving her head as she goes through treatments for breast cancer. but soon after, she found out she wasn't fighting alone. the goshen township police department saw on social media what ali was going through. officer matt put out the all call and they decided to shave their heads too. why did you guys do this? >> i saw ali's video the night she shaved her head and it was raw and emotional, and you could see the emotion in her face. and in that moment, i thought, we need to do something to show her that we see her and we're here to support her. she's not in this by herself. >> so, ali, how do you react to this? >> i'm blessed. i just cried for

the cops, the officers to all get together and do this. it was just the most amazing thing. >> officer, what's the bigger message? >> the bigger message is, is stand behind those people who need the help in the community. if we can stand behind someone who needs our support at that point in time, then we stand behind them. we're in this together. >> and that wraps up the hour for me. i'm jose diaz balart. you can always reach me on social media at jd ballard, and you can watch clips from this show at youtube, at msnbc.com. thank you for the privilege of your time. ali vitali picks up with more news right now. >> right now on msnbc reports the united states abroad secretary of state marco rubio is in saudi arabia ahead of talks to try and end russia's war in ukraine. who's invited to the negotiating table and what's at stake? plus, elon musk's department of government efficiency continues cutting workers throughout the federal government. as an irs employee affiliated with doge plans