blinken.omeone i do have admiration for. we disagree on this one strongly. we have traveled abroad and at the end of the day, we're all americans. as you know, sir, i have issue with you over the handling of this matter. i recognize you for your testimony here today. sec. blinken: mr. chairman, ranking member meeks, distinguished colleagues on this committee, let me just say, i have very much appreciated working with you the last four years, working with the ranking member. i think we have done good and important things today -- >> secretary of genocide. butcher. you are a liar. chair mccaul: good morning. audience members, disruption of committee proceedings is against the law. holding up signs or making verbal outbursts during the proceedings is disruptive and will not be tolerated. any disruption will result in a suspension of the proceedings until the capitol police can restore order. this includes the raisings of hands and other forms of disruption. with that i now recognize the secretary

that is antony blinken, let us - antony blinken, let us talk more about what may happen next in syria a senior associate fellow and an expert in geopolitics and security. thank you for being with us. we saw extraordinary scenes in syria today, huge celebrations, lots of optimism and joy, but there are still concerns about what the victorious rebels will do know that they are in government.- know that they are in government. know that they are in covernment. ., ~ , ., ., government. thank you for havin: government. thank you for having me _ government. thank you for having me on _ government. thank you for having me on your- government. thank you for - having me on your programme. yes, there are those concerns but i think syrians have seen a huge amount of suffering over the past 13 years. they have also seen other transitions failed in the region, so i think all of the concerns and worries and the caution that is being expressed from so many quarters further afield, they know these concerned, they share many of these concerns, if not all of these concerns, and i think that they are pr

us secretary antony blinken says they have met direct contact... prince andrew says he "ceased all contact" with a businessman accused of being a chinese spy — after the uk government raised concerns. hello, i'm kasia madera. a former manchester city footballer has been elected in a vote in georgia's parliament, despite condemnation from the incumbent president and the pro—eu opposition that the process is illegitimate. mikheil kavelashvili is a former mp from the increasingly authoritarian ruling georgian dream party and was the only candidate for the job. it comes after 17 days of pro—eu protests across the country's towns and cities. this was the scene outside parliament earlier. the four main opposition groups have rejected kavel—ashvili and have boycotted parliament, insisting that the elections held in october were rigged. our south caucasus and central asia correspondent rayhan demytrie has been outside parliament in the georgian capital, tblisi, where protestors have gathered. she told us what they are saying. these protesters, kasia, they

secretary blinken: stay tuned. in terms of the american citizen who was found today, i can't give you any details of what is going to happen, but we want to bring him home and i can't share any more details. no update on austintice. we are looking to find him and bring him home. this is a priority for the united states. reporter: are you concerned at all about israel's air strikes across syria and maneuvers inside the buffer zone that has created some anger in the arab world? and what is your message to erdogan on kurdish-backed forces. secretary blinken: when it comes to the buffer zone that came from the 1974 ceasefire, israel has said syrian forces on one side of the buffer zone abandoned the area and israel is concerned it could be filled by terrorists and moved into the buffer zone and told us that is a temporary move -- did. [indiscernible] when it comes to actions that israel is taken, the stated purpose of those actions from the israelis is to make sure that equipment that has been abandoned doesn't fall in

blinken: good question. look, i think the answer is yes, and certainly we tried in advance of the russian aggression, we made a full court press, full court effort to engage the russians and engage mr. putin. in fact, even before, well before the russian aggression, look, we were trying to get the relationship with russia to a different place, one that was a little bit more stable, a little bit more predictable. president biden, president putin met in geneva, had a lengthy meeting. this is well before the aggression, and that's what we were trying to see if that was possible. that's the direction we wanted to move things in. this is near the beginning of the administration. there were so many other things we wanted to be focused on and concentrating our time and resources on, not conflict with russia, whether over ukraine or anything else. unfortunately, i think what proved out over the last three years is that putin's had imperial designs for a long, long time, starting really close to home in chechnya, goi

blinken: thank you. [applause] >> temporary funding bill proposed by speaker johnson has upset several of his fellow trump -- president elect trump has weighed in,'s

you have blinken speaking on american journalist austin tyce.ngle day we are working to find him and to bring him home, making sure that the word is out to everyone that this is a operator for the united states. >> mr. tyce was an american journalist who's been missing for 12 years inside assad's regime. how does that storyline impact what the secretary talks about in those meetings? how is that integrated into the conversation as the new leadership is standing up for whomever that may be, the efforts maybe by others in the region who can help and finding mr. tyce and any americans there? >> the aside regime for many years has been well known to be involved in torture and investorsration and killing of its citizens -- incarceration and killing of its citizens. i'm sure some of those regional countries are interested in trying to make sure that their citizens are going to be secure and safe during this period of great change and even chaos. i'm hoping that austin tyce is still alive. i met with his parents when i was in the government. had an une

it also includes current secretary of state antoni blinken.his is 40 minutes. >> ladies and gentlemen, the secretary of state antoni blinken and the former secretary of state john f. kerry. [applause] [applause] sec. blinken: good [cheers and applause] welcome. welcome, everyone. welcome back to the state department. welcome to, i think one of our shared favorite places in the state department. the ben franklin room. i'm always inspired being in this room. we have franklin looking down upon he of course was our first dipl negotiated our first treaty. secured our independence. chartered the gulf stream. pioneered electricity. gave us our ethos of self-governance an none of this did he do while so. announcer: ladies and gentlemen, distinguished guests, secretary antony blinken and john f. kerry. [applause] sec. blinken: good afternoon. [cheers and applause] welcome. welcome, everyone. welcome back to the state department. welcome to i think one of our shared favorite places in the state department. the ben franklin room. i'm always inspired bein

respecting minorities. —— secretary blinken. how will they do it in the future?they do it in the future?— do it in the future? a lot of it will be gesturing _ do it in the future? a lot of it will be gesturing or - do it in the future? a lot of it| will be gesturing or signalling do it in the future? a lot of it - will be gesturing or signalling from hts that is positive and the us does ascending it in creates an eight —— it creates a virtuous circle. hts giving the american journalist back to the us without trying to barter or do prisoner exchanges as we have seen with other adverse areas in the past like the taliban, for example, it is a good sign that they show we want to work with you. obviously there are a lot of complications and a lot of history behind this. this is very much a president. when we are thinking about the future of syria and the syrian people itself it is important to understand they just suffered under years and years of totalitarianism —— 60 years. there are other players obviously in the region. turkeyjust nearby. how big of a role do you

blinken's appearance today came three months after the committee voted on party lines to hold blinkenhs and blinken not appearing before the committee. he said he had other matters to attend to until today, chris. >> andy barr fired up, thank you, julie tsirkin, much appreciated. >>> inside syria, the brutal repression of a fallen assad regime is being exposed, including a notorious prison called the human slaughter house by amnesty international. thousands, tens of thousands of people disappeared into that maze of tiny concrete cells, and now syrians by the thousands are desperately searching the compound for any trace of loved ones who went missing years ago. nbc's richard engel went inside with them. >> reporter: thousands of syrians came to the prison outside damascus to search for missing relatives. this is where the brutal regime of dictator bashar al assad sent those who dared oppose him to disappear. a man held handfuls of nooses he found made of cheap nylon cord, some were freshly used. and still bloody. what did we do to deserve this, he asked? amnesty international dubbed s

of course, antony blinken, the — also jordan? of course, antony blinken, the region, _ also jordan?linken, the region, jack - blinken, the region, jack sullivan, the advisor in the white house in israel — this american moves in the region at the moment are trying to end the moment are trying to end the rule or the... for biden�*s time in the white house in a calm situation at least in the middle east. they are trying to make sure to be in communication with the new rulers in syria to make sure that the situation would advance in a stable way, and they want to ensure also that they want to ensure also that the ceasefire with hezbollah is holding, and they are hoping to do a ceasefire also in gaza. figs do a ceasefire also in gaza. as ever, thank you very much indeed. lovely to see you again. let's speak to sahar razavi, director of the iranian and middle eastern studies center at california state university. hello and welcome to the programme. many people are starting to look at what a new syria will look like. i mean, where are we? what are the main priorities that are going to have

so, sebastian, antony blinken, echoing that word chaos there. of what he had to say? well, i mean, he signed ajoint statement with the arab foreign ministers and also the turkish foreign minister, as well. turkey, of course, has played a very, very big role in the past, but particularly in supporting hts. i mean, i think of all the outside powers, turkey was probably the most proactive in what's happened in the past two or three weeks in the removal of president assad from power. and i mean, that message, yes, it's the one that we've been hearing again and again. but if you look at the us record — i mean, move away from syria for a moment, look at gaza. we've heard from antony blinken many, many times, he's made many visits to the region with plans, with pressure, and he hasn't really achieved anything. desperately trying to get a ceasefire in gaza — has been unable to do that. so, i mean, we have to look at this on the level of, as he said, principles. but there's an element of wishful thinking. the one other kind of interesting thing that he s

blinken's testimony comes nearly three months after the committee voted to put blinken in contempt ofittee released a lengthy report about a years—long investigation into the us's exit from afghanistan. republicans on the committee accused the biden administration of misleading the public about the end of the 20—year war. here's mr blinken explaining the events leading up blinken says he firmly believes the decision to withdraw was the decision to withdraw was the right one. american troops are no longer fighting and dying in afghanistan. the fightin

blinken is going there today. with syria falling apart., who led the inaugural committee last time and is a very wealthy colleague and friend of donald trump's. this would be the time to have a professional diplomat there. >> well, of course, there's a tradition of sending professional diplomats to these key posts. there's also i think a general willingness to give the president -- about whether these nominees want to confirm, but don't fool yourself. donald trump is in a very strong position. 53 republican senators, even three of them, will confirm whoever he wants. >> absolutely. susan page, ali vitali, congratulations on your new gig. starting soon. thank you. and of course, my friend, doug high from the rnc previously and also joe crowley. >>> next, new details on a key immigration policy that could change under the next administration. you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. tion you're watching "andrea mitchell reports" on msnbc. postmenopaus, and are at high risk for fracture, you can do more than just slow bone loss. yo

you can see secretary blinken's testimony is back underway.n syria, a rebel coalition hurries to prevent a power vacuum after ousting bashar al assad. syria's care taker prime minister, delivering his first tv address saying one of his first goals is to bring back the millions of fugees who have been displaced in more than a decade of war. at the same time, the u.s. is warning regional powers not to interfere in the transitional process stressing that the syrian people must determine their country's path. nbc news chief foreign correspondent richard engel is in damascus, and chief international correspondent keir simmons is in the region speaking to leaders. first to you, richard. you got an inside look at assad's palace after his ouster. you have been in multiple places where all of this went down. take us inside. >> reporter: so we are still in this transition phase here where syrians are exploring what was hidden behind the curtain, what was hidden behind the dictatorship. they knew the repression. yelled i yesterday i was inside the prison

antony blinken echoing the word chaos. what did you make of what he had to say? he chaos.what he had to say? he signed a “oint what he had to say? he signed a joint statement _ what he had to say? he signed a joint statement with _ what he had to say? he signed a joint statement with the - what he had to say? he signed a joint statement with the arab . joint statement with the arab foreign ministers and also at the turkish prime minister. turkey has played a very big role in the past, particularly in supporting hds. i think of all the outside powers, turkey is probably the most proactive and what's happened in the last weeks in removing president aside from power. that message yes, it's the one we've been hearing again and again —— president aside. if you look at the us record, move away from syria for a moment and look at gaza. we've heard from antony blinken many times, he's made many visits to the region with plants, with pressure. he hasn't achieved anything. desperately trying to get a cease—fire in gaza, has been unable to do that. we have to look at this on the leve

tonight secretary blinken will travel to brussels, belgium and multiply it secretary blinken will attend the ministers of foreign affairs to discuss parties for transatlantic security including support for ukraine's fight against russian aggression, deepening cooperation with nato's southern neighborhood partners in the middle east including by walking -- by welcoming king of della of jordan -- king of della of jordan. the secretary will join allies and underscoring ukraine's path for euro atlantic integration. ukraine's future is in need of -- in nato. ukraine continues to deploy our defense systems the united states and allies and partners have delivered over the past year to successfully intercept and destroy a number of the missiles and drones fired by russia. allies will continue to support ukraine's progress on interoperability as well as additional democratic and security sector reforms. we can see to focus on helping ukraine to be under the strongest pollution possible on the battlefield and to ensure it is able to defend itself now and over the long-term. in malta, secretary bli

antony blinken and he sent us these comments. . ._ antony blinken and he sent us these comments...ents. .. this leg of his tri- these comments... this leg of his trip to _ these comments... this leg of his trip to the _ these comments... this leg of his trip to the middle - these comments... this leg of his trip to the middle east - these comments... this leg of his trip to the middle east wasj his trip to the middle east was surrounded by secrecy because of the security concerns there still are for american diplomatic trips here to baghdad so we landed in a dc 17 military transport plane here. mr blinking and senior officials were taken into the airfield and put on a flak jacket and was taken by helicopter and flown into central baghdad to the us embassy and then on by motorcade to meet the prime minister. that a very critical set of talks here for the americans because remember how important iraq is to what goes on in syria. there is a shared interest between the us and the iraqis basically around trying to keep the islamic state group contained and degraded in the desert areas o

blinken. this morning he'll be testifying the u.s. evacuation from afghanistan in 2021. we expect this to start in just a couple of moments here live on c-span3. a quick reminder, the u.s. house is in session today where members will be considering the final version of the 2025 policy bill that totals about $885 billion and includes 14.5% pay increase for junior enlisted personnel and improved housing for military service members. you can see live coverage of the house on or companion network, c-span. also later on c-span2, the senate will be back at 11:00 a.m. eastern. they'll be ing two nominees. watch senate live on c-span2. they log on -- they gavel in at 11:00 a.m. eastern. secretary of state antony blinken arriving now. this hearing should get under way in just a moment live on c-span3. >>> committee on foreign affairs will come to order. the purpose of today's hearing is to hear directly from secretary blinken, america's top diplomat, and get his assessment of his state department's wit

secretary blinken will appear before the foreign affairs committee along party lines find blinken intify back in september. now, during the disastrous exit from afghanistan, $7 billion worth of u.s. military hardware ended up in the hands of the taliban and, of course, we well know 13 u.s. service members were killed during a bombing at kabul airport. steve nikoui is the gold star father of lance corporal couey who died in the blast. richard mccormick reacted on "fox & friends first." watchy expect any great answers from secretary of state blinken, he has been avoiding us from the get-go. he knows they had poor policy. this is the worst foreign pole of any president in the united states. why can't we admit weigh did do wrong and move on and not repeat those same mistakes just the fact that he is coming is because he is in threat of being held in contempt. it's not that he is doing something towards goodwill. is he forced to do it. >> that hearing about begin at 10:00 a.m. eastern time. back to you. >> steve: thank you. >> brian: how many people he left behind, never been answered, ho

blinken: good afternoon. [cheers and applause] welcome. welcome, everyone. welcome back to the state department. welcome to i think one of our shared favorite places in the state department. the ben franklin room. i'm always inspired being in this room. we have franklin looking down upon us. he of course was our first diplomat. negotiated our first treaty. secured our independence. chartered the gulf stream. pioneered electricity. gave us our ethos of self-governance and virtually none of this did he do while sober. [laughter] so i take that as an instruction for all of us. when we're done with the wonderful ceremony that we're about to embark on. on behalf of myself, my wife who is here with us today, i'm so thrilled to have you here, particularly for this occasion. mr. secretary, welcome home. john once described his life as having an almost forrest gump-like quality. and think about it. it's true. flip back through some of the pages. flip back through the decades. one consequential moment after another, there is john kerry. we see him as a 12-year-old, th

blinken testified before the house foreign affairs committee. the hearing comes months after house republicans released a report that analyzed that withdrawal. the report claims that the biden administration removed the troops too quickly, which caused the deaths of 13 service members. during the hearing, blinken defended the decision to end the war. even as we work to addrs the places where we fell short. i firmly believe the president's decision to withdraw from afghanistan was the right one. american troops are no longer fighting and dying in afghanistan. the american people are safer and more secure. blinken is traveling to the middle east. he'll visit jordan tomorrow and then turkey on friday. still ahead, what would the holiday season be without the salvation army helping so many families in need? the effort underway right now to make sure everyone has an enjoyable christmas. and a bay area company gets a stamp of approval from a very famous celebrity. how the slice of publicity is helping in the north bay. and rain returns on the radar. w

antony blinken, is he calling for israel to stop? not even indirectly, in the waning days of of the biden administration, i think directly with hts is probably not a wise, not a not a wise approach. the problem, of course, is the us cannot accept, with certain waivers begin to funnel humanitarian and reconstruction assistance to syria with without a de—listing. and that's going to end up, i think, being a decision that whether or not they'll agree to delist is another matter. so a challenge there. of course, you were the former us state department official adviser on arab—israeli negotiations. we heard antony blinken there say that he wants syria to have good relations with its neighbours. we also know that israel has been targeting various former with a very uncertain situation in syria. the assad government was many things, and clearly no one can not be happy that, in fact, it's gone. the israelis, however, will now be dealing with perhaps a more fractious syria and islamist elements, notjust isis, but hts. now, whether hts is goin

well, these are crucial discussions between mr blinken and president erdogan here in ankara.ng been tensions between turkey and the americans, specifically over the role of the syrian democratic forces, what the americans see as the moderate, mostly kurdish, but also arab fighters, particularly in the east and parts of the north of syria, backed by the americans, equipped and trained by the americans, holding territory there in which it is part of the american official american operation there to counter islamic state group. there are also camps in which is fighters and theirfamilies are held. now with the sudden change of the situation in syria, what we've seen over the last week is turkish backed groups are pushing back and fighting some areas, fighting against the sdf in some of the areas held by the sdf, including a strategically important town called manbij. now the americans and the turks have been talking about this. they've come to some agreements in places, but those tensions are going to continue. president erdogan regards kurdish militias close to his border as ter

happening right now on capitol hill, secretary of state antony blinken is testifying before the housethdrawal from afghanistan during which a bombing outside the airport in kabul killed 13 u.s. service members and 170 afghans. in his testimony, blinken addressed the gold star families who lost their loved ones that day. >> i deeply regret that we did not do more and could not do more to protect them. to those families who are here with us today, you're in my thoughts. and my prayers. i wish that with us today. i'm deeply sorry that she's not. >> what you heard there outside were pro palestinian protesters shouting outside the house chamber. joining us now is nbc's courtney kube. good morning, how is that hearing going, and i think it's so important that the secretary of state recognize and talk about and shine a light on those 13 service members that lost their lives that day? >> reporter: and specifically speaking to the family of one of those, we believe it to be nicole g, one of the women killed in the abbey gate bombing in august of 2021. that was a powerful moment. it's not one t

we'll take you live now to capitol hill where secretary of state antony blinken will testify about thestan in 2021. secretary inken will take questions from the house foreign affairs committee. this is live coverage on c-span3. >>> live to capitol hill this morning where secretary of state antony blinken will be testifying regarding the u.s. evacuation from afghanistan in 2021. he'll be called on to respond to questions from members of the house foreign affairs committee regarding the abbey gate terrorist attack. the committee had voted along party lines for holding secretary blinken in contempt for failing to testify. live coverage on c-span3. >>> once again, we're live on capitol hill this morning, waiting for secretary of state antony blinken. he'll be testifying about the u.s. evacuation from afghanistan in 2021. he'll be responding to questions from members of the house foreign affairs committee this morning regarding the abbey gate terrorist attack, which led to the deaths of 13 u.s. service members and 170 afghan civilians. the committee had voted along party lines in september

now, of course you saw antony blinken kind of made a ring around syria in his trip.to iraq. and he's in jordan now, as you said, trying to sure up american partners to make sure that syria makes a good, peaceful transition to a government that isn't terrorists, that isn't fundamentalists and that will respect women's rights and the rights of minorities and maybe even democratic norm. but the real bomb shell that blinken dropped on this visit is that he's actually in touch with them directly. here is what he said. >> yes, we've been in contact with hts and with other parties. we have impressed upon everyone we've been in contact with the importance of helping find austin tice and bringing him home. >> reporter: and, of course, he's referring to journalist austin tice who hasn't been seen in the past 12 years. there's a feverish effort to try to find him now. when you talk about blinken talking to terrorists, that sounds highly questionable and illegal, but remember that the u.s. has been negotiating with hezbollah and hamas through intermediaries. both groups also des

secretary of state anthony blinken finally faced congress about it. we're going to bring you the fireworks, it was really heated today in d.c. congressman greg stube, a military veteran who served in iraq will take it on after the break. >> are you freaking kidding me? >> it's disgusting to try to blame this on donald trump when we all know there is no way that anyone forced you guys to do the dumbest thing possible. this is the most forly executed paths to depart any country possible. you sit here and say i express sympathy and yet, have never acknowledged the failures or owned the consequences of it. in fact to this day, the only person that's been fired was a lot colonel in the marine corps who spoke out. none of you have been held accountable or expressed shame or embarrassment. have you learned anything? eedom! kevin... kevin? kevin... kevin!!! and kevin - uh, i mean, macaulay - take a very special trip to the mall where anything... come and get your little kev! is... cashbackable!!! -really? -yeah. anything is cashbackable!!! chill. sorry! 'tis

i thank secretary blinken for presiding over this meeting. i thank secretary-general guterres for the important statement and i also thank the professors for their important briefings. at present with the development of a.i. accelerating and its role as inenabler, a.i. has become an important force to promote progress. a.i. is like a double-edged sword which become a conducive force for social governance and international security or become a source of threats to fairness and justice and a source of danger to peace and stability. the international community should jointly strengthen the a.i. governance to ensure that a.i. governance is safe, reliable and under control in this manner. china has been exploring the scientific path of a.i. development and governance in a responsible manner as early as 2017, the chinese government issued the development plan for the new generation of a.i., clearly indicating the need to address the double-edged attributes of a.i. with the views of preventing risk to the greatest possible extent. in 2021, released

secretary blinken: we are back in the region at a time of both real

secretary of state antony blinken is in and car tonight for high-level talks with president erdogan.an emerging struggle in the power struggle where the countries are notably clashed and that is the role of the kurdish-led syrian democratic forces's. the united states has been predicted the kurds of northeastern syria since the overthrow of isis and its base in 2017. what the u.s. air force was protecting the kurds from was not isis itself nor even assad's forces, they were shielding them from washington's nato ally, turkiye. >> when it comes to what is happening in the northeast, look, turkiye has a real and clear interests particularly when it comes to the pkk and terrorism which is an enduring threat to turkiye. at the same time, we want to avoid sparking any kinds of additional conflicts inside syria at a time when we want to see the transition to an interim government and to a better way forward for syria. and part of that also has to be ensuring that isis does not rear its ugly head again. critical to making sure that does not happen is the so-called syrian democratic forces th

that's sort of new, if you will. >> blinken argued staying in afghanistan would have been worse. >> ies including russia would have been delighted if we doubled down and remained stuck in afghanistan for 20 years. >> tonight, secretary blinken is on his way to the middle east. he will be making stops in jordan as well as turkey, given what is going on within syria, what trey was just talking about. as for congress, they will continue to investigate what happened in afghanistan, lawmakers telling us they plan to sit down with national security adviser jake sullivan as soon as next week. bret? >> bret: mark meredith live on the hill. mark, thanks. up next the panel on the trump transition new fox polling and mysterious sightings in the new jersey area and southeast as well. before we head to break, the performer known as the amazing kreskin has died. george joseph cresky jr. died at his new jersey home a month before what would have been his ninth birthday. cress ken who was a mentalist very popular in the 1970s. the cause of death not known. george joseph cresky jr. the amazing kreskin

let�*s take you like, we can see the us secretary of state antony blinken, here�*s talking injordan, partners about what is happening in syria. about what is happening in s ria. �* , syria. and fulfil its aspirations. - syria. and fulfil its aspirations. also l syria. and fulfil its - aspirations. also critical to unlocking international recognition, support that syria very much needs after decades of dictatorship, conflict, corruption, isolation. i have had many calls over the last days with partners in the region and everyone is in agreement on the need to have a unified approach to advance many of our shared interests, and so here on the ground in the region we are working to build up and build out that unified approach. that was the basis of my conversation with the king today here injordan. i will continue those conversations with resident erdogan as we had turkey going forward. we will also be very focused on banning any actor inside or outside the country from putting their interest ahead of the syrian people, especially in this delicate moment. that includes a course isis, wh

my question is, secretary blinken said he believes in the resilience of south korean democracy. what does the united states think is the cause of democracy in south korea and what is its assessment of the martial law declared by president yoon to protect -- >> i'm not -- i'm not going to try to opine or certainly not for us to come draw any conclusions on what caused some of this decision making. as i said to sean and simon, there is a number of questions that both we and the international community have and those questions certainly need to be answered. and the issuance of martial law and the implications that such a measure would have had for individual rights and liberties certainly is a matter to be taken incredibly seriously. the rescinding of tial law was a demonstration of the rok's democratic resilience during a period of uncertainty. and as i said to sean just before, there are processes underway within the republic of korea. we expect those to be handled in accordance with the rok constitution. as you heard me even say on december 3rd, we support the rule of law and de

i would say that hearing, blinken will end his tenure as secretary of state as disappointingly as heor the families of the 13 fallen that were there again, blinken again, nobody from biden's administration took responsibility, nobody was fired, and blinken, basically said i wrestled with what else we could have done to save the 13 but essentially there's nothing that we could have done. i don't think that's true. i think we've had so many people testify about the intelligence that was available. we know it was a catastrophe. everybody with two eyes knew the taliban was going to take over. it was a disaster and they took no responsibility yet again. maria: no responsibility. and you know what, they've taken no responsibility for everything they've missed. victoria coates was on with us the other day. she said this administration has missed four major things that have had massive implications. number one, the afghanistan withdrawal. it was botched. they totally messed it up. number two, they thought ukraine would fold. remember in the early days when ukraine was first attacked by rush

antony blinken addressed that, as well. to finally, after well more than a year, secure some kind of deal that would secure the remaining hostages and bring a measure of peace to the gaza strip. here's what he said. >> i also use the meetings we've had over the recent days with our counterparts encounter, in egypt, to press forward on the agreement of the release of hostages from gaza and a cease-fire, as i did earlier this week in turkey. we continue to work relentlessly for that goal. >> reporter: i can tell you, alex, the big bombshell that he dropped his that he is actually in touch with the islamist group that took over damascus and ousted president bashar al assad, whose family has ruled this country with an iron fist for the past half-century. as we have seen with other places where the u.s. has had negotiations with hezbollah, with hamas, the americans can have negotiations listed with designated terrorists, but it has to be done with intermediaries. and there's a big effort by western countries, international advoc

happening today, tony blinken testifies over botched withdrawal from afghanistan. come on in, how are you? for god so loved the world that he gave his only son. so that everyone who believes in him might not perish, but might have eternal life. your loved ones are getting older, and they need your support. care.com is here to help. it's an easy way to find background-checked senior caregivers in your area. and some piece of mind. see why millions of families have trusted care. go to care.com now here you go. is there anyway to get a better price on this? have you checked singlecare? before i pick up my prescription at the pharmacy, i always check the singlecare price. it's quick, easy, and totally free to use. singlecare can literally beat my insurance copay. go to singlecare.com and start saving today. harry and david is small batch, gourmet, and delicious. so, of course they run out fast. whether you want to say, "thank you", "i love you", or just "happy holidays" - send something special, beautiful, and delicious. order your harry and david favorites now before

secretary of state blinken today made an unannounced trip to iraq. he is in the region working to shore up a secure transition for a new government in syria. but he's also checking in on the search for missing american journalist austin tice. all that as thousands took to the streets of damascus to celebrate a rebirth of syria, which many hope will bring stability to the middle east. nbc's alice barr is tracking it all from washington, dc. everyone is searching for something. in the aftermath of the fall of bashar al-assad's brutal regime, stable syrian leadership, inclusive, nonsectarian government and does not become in any way a platform for terrorism, a foothold to turn the tide of middle east conflict. but for one family, it's a far more narrow search for a son, a brother, an american journalist and marine veteran, austin tice. we have from a significant source that has already been vetted all over our government. austin tice is alive. tice was reporting in syria when he went missing in august of 2012. nbc's richard engel is in syria as its infa

leaders from the arab world, along with the us secretary of state antony blinken, have been meeting injordan to discuss the future of syria. more on that in a moment. first — nearly a week after the overthrow of the syrian president bashar al assad, more details are emerging about the extent of human rights abuses committed under his rule. the bbc has visited a military base, bombed earlier this week by israel, which revealed evidence of torture being carried out there. our middle east correspondent, lucy williamson, went to the base in damascus, and just to warn you her report contains details you may find distressing. the men who protected president assad have gone, the control room at mezzeh military air base scarred by the moment control slipped away, its abandoned assets now targets for israeli air strikes. israel has been systematically destroying the military equipment left by the assad regime, worried about who might end up using it. russian—made aircraft, israeli bombs, militia backed by turkey, iran, the us — this was neverjust syria's war, and outside powers still have a stake her

i hope president trump's threats help blinken and his team actually get the americans home.here is a series of very bad options here. they go all the way back to president obama's second term, when he refused to enforce sanctions on iran and whatever he effectively propped up shar al-assad, again not only by not enforcing sanctions, but not making him any real cost or consequences for killing 500,000 of his own people and using chemical weapons. i think the united states is lucky israel is taking this issue on and bombing t the and michael weapons capabilities that remember they destroyed syria's nuclear weapons about 15 years ago, so once again israel is taking on that terrorism problem that could end up affecting the united states. >> sandra: we will keep watching all of it. morgan, great to have you on today. thank you very much. john? >> john: always good to see morgan. the incoming trump administration vowing to put an end to the government's dei push. manhattan institute senior fellow chris rufo has been meeting with the trump team, he is up next on what he thinks of h

us secretary of state antony blinken met with israeli strategic affairs minister ron dermer in washington on monday. dermer did not answer questions as he left the u.s. state department, but we've learned that during the meeting, blinken stressed the importance of a ceasefire and a hostage deal, and the need for plans for a postwar gaza. cnn's nadia bashir joins us in london with the latest. if we could talk about gaza in a moment, uh you know, it's you know, it was not unexpected that this ceasefire with lebanon may have some edge to it. it's not. i mean people aren't saying it's over yet, but clearly it shows how much distrust there is on both sides. absolutely. i mean, this is a really fragile truce agreement, and it had been sort of expected over this initial 60 day period that we may see some of the hostilities that we're currently seeing on the ground. >> this is, of course a process in the hope that after that 60 day period, that's when we would see a lasting ceasefire. but what we've seen from about a day after, in fact, the ceasefire was declared, is the israeli military carrying