From WNYC Studios. I'm Brian Lerer. This is my daily politics podcast. It's Friday, February 23rd.

New Jersey Congress member Mikey Sherrill is just back from the Munich Security Conference and the Middle East, and she

joins us now. She went to Israel, Jordan, and Egypt, in addition to Munich, including the

Rafa crossing at the Egyptian border, Rafa being where most Gaza residents have concentrated

now at Israel's direction, caught between being used as human shields by Hamas

in its last military stronghold and Israel's willingness to kill thousands of civilians to fight

Hamas faster. Congresswoman Cheryl supports the current negotiations, said to be making progress

toward a temporary ceasefire and hostage and prisoner exchange.

And as a Navy veteran who worked in the Middle East, has a master's degree in global history

from the prestigious London School of Economics and Political Science, and is now a member of

the House Armed Services Committee.

It could be very interesting to hear her take on what

might be done to save more civilian lives right now if the two warring parties insist on continuing

the fight. Congresswoman Cheryl spent nearly 10 years on active duty in the Navy, flying missions

throughout Europe and the Middle East. She then attended Georgetown Law School and served as a

Russia policy officer in the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey. Congresswoman Cheryl is a Democrat

who represents New Jersey's 11th Congressional District, which includes parts of Morris, Essex,

and Passaic counties in North Jersey. Congresswoman, thanks for coming on today.

Welcome back to WNYC. Well, thanks so much for having me.

What did you see at the Rafa Crossing? So we went to the Rafa Crossing. We were on the

Egyptian side, and before we went there, we stopped at the warehouses where they're gathering

the food aid from across the world,

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