I just reject the idea that we should reserve a crisis for a better time to solve it.

You know, it's people, what's interesting to me is there are a lot of angry people out there,

and that's why the border crisis is the number one issue for voters.

I don't see how we have a better story to tell when we miss the one opportunity we have to fix it.

And we go and say, you know, I would love to have fixed it, but it was election season, so I thought I'd wait.

That's Republican Senator Kevin Kramer of North Dakota, one of the very few GOP lawmakers to go on record in favor of passing the border deal despite Donald Trump's

demands. We'll have more from Capitol Hill on those negotiations straight ahead. Plus, a

potentially significant development in the hostage negotiations between Israel and Hamas,

with the CIA director set to travel abroad in hopes of closing a deal.

And also ahead, we'll go through Donald Trump's temper tantrum in court and get legal analysis on what's next in the defamation damages trial. Good morning and welcome to way too early on this Friday, January 26th.

We made it to Friday just barely.

I'm Jonathan Lemire.

Thanks for starting your day with us.

And we'll begin with this news from the Middle East.

CIA director William Burns is expected to travel, starting in Europe, in the coming days, to help broker a new hostage release deal between Israel and Hamas.

A diplomat with knowledge of the matter tells NBC News that Burns will meet with the head of Israel's intelligence agency, as well as the leaders of Qatar.

It's not known where exactly the meeting is taking place.

Israel and Hamas have been inching closer to a deal that would release all the remaining hostages in Gaza.

It's believed that more than 130 people are being held captive, and at least 25 of

those have died. Israel's latest proposal includes a 60-day ceasefire, which would be the longest

since the fighting began, in exchange for a phased release of the hostages, starting with women and

children. However, Hamas has been demanding an

...