NICK SCHIFRIN: The Biden administration's foreign policy efforts are once again in the spotlight, as U.S. officials push for more hostages to be released by Hamas.

On that and what's ahead in the Republican presidential primary, we turn to the analysis of Capehart and Johnson.

That's Jonathan Capehart, associate editor for The Washington Post, and Eliana Johnson, editor in chief of The Washington Free Beacon.

David Brooks is away.

Thanks, guys, very much.

Great to see you.

Happy day after Thanksgiving.

Jonathan Capehart, I wonder if we could look at Biden's policy overall for Israel.

How do you rate it right now?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Well, first, today is a great day that we have seen some hostages of the couple hundred who have been held hostage in Gaza be released.

And that is primarily the efforts of the United States, Qatar, Israel, but really the president of the United States pushing really hard to get to some kind of situation where hostages could be released, there could be a pause in the fighting, so that humanitarian relief could get inside Gaza for the people who desperately need it, the Palestinians who desperately need it.

It doesn't mean that this is by any means over or that there aren't more pitfalls to come.

But with that incentive in the pause, meaning, if 10 more hostages are released, there will be an extra day in the pause, it is my hope that that does indeed happen and that this pause lasts longer than the four initial days.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Eliana Johnson, what do you think President Biden should be focusing on, either this pause or relief into Gaza or the release of U.S. hostages?

ELIANA JOHNSON, Editor in Chief, The Washington Free Beacon: I wish it was an either/or question, and I could give you a simple answer.

But the president has to be under enormous pressure to secure the release of the American hostages.

He has indicated that he does not even know the location of all the American hostages.

And, today, we saw the release of 13 hostages.

None of them were Americans.

And I do think he's under enormous pressure.

He's got to get some American hostages out in this deal.

And, going forward, he's coming under huge pressure from the left flank of the Democratic Party to pressure Israel to stop its war.

And from my vantage point, the president has to resist that pressure and allow Israel to continue the war at the end of this pause.

It is worth noting Hamas has already violated the terms of this agreement.

The Red Cross was supposed to be permitted to see and evaluate the hostages.

They were not permitted to do so.

Civilians were not to return to the north of Gaza for their own protection.

And Hamas is encouraging them to do so.

And so I think President Biden has got to give Israel the green light, when it wants to do so, to resume this war.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Jonathan, let's think about that, resisting pressure.

There is a lot of pressure on the left, some of it generational, but not all of it, to call for a cease-fire.

That is not something that many members of the Democratic Party have followed.

And yet there are calls for the president to basically rein in the Israelis even more.

Can he resist that pressure?

Should he resist that pressure?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: He can resist that pressure.

He will resist that pressure.

And he should resist that pressure.

Look, I would say to my friends, my Democratic friends, that we have to remember that President Biden is president of the United States, not the president of Israel.

He has no control over Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

He can strongly suggest.

He can strongly talk to him behind the scenes, more strongly than the words he uses, the president uses in public.

But President Biden is doing absolutely everything he can to encourage a small-D democratic nation, which has its own national security interests, to act in the best interests of small-D democratic values.

And I would also say to my Democratic friends and to others, you got to remember, for all the talk about President Biden being oh so old and he's too old for the job, well, his 36 years in the Senate, eight years as vice president of the United States is coming in handy right now, when we most need it.

This is the time when President Biden is at his best.

He knows what he's doing.

And I just wish that Democrats in general and the American public in particular would give him the grace and give him the room to exert American will and American pressure as much as he can on a situation that is infinitely more complex than a lot of his critics give it credit for.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Eliana Johnson, when it comes to the power of the purse, the president has asked for some $60 billion for Ukraine aid, tying that to $14 billion for Israel.

Is that effort to tie Ukraine and Israel aid dead or still alive in Congress?

ELIANA JOHNSON: The Ukraine aid in particular is controversial among Republicans.

I personally wish it wasn't, but it is.

And we have had Democrats come forward and say, Republicans had wanted to tie additional money for the border.

And it currently is in this bill.

And that is controversial among the Democrats.

And so my guess is that, ultimately, the Senate may come under pressure to split this bill into pieces.

Right now, it is the Israel money, the Ukraine money and these border security measures.

I can't predict what will happen with that bill, but there are parts of it, the Ukraine bill controversial on the right -- the Ukraine money controversial on the right, and the border security money controversial among Democrats.

So, I think it's going to be a tough sell.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Jonathan Capehart, let's switch over to Republican politics.

Basic question, can anybody stop Trump?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Right now, no.

He is, what, last I saw, 20 or 30 points ahead of Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley, who are battling for number two.

But, Nick, what I really think we're looking at right now is, we're looking at poll numbers that show Donald Trump far and away the front-runner for the Republican nomination.

What I'm looking for is, what happens on the night of the Iowa caucuses and the New Hampshire primaries when those poll numbers give way to actual votes?

And Donald Trump will be in trouble if his actual vote totals, his actual vote margin, assuming he comes in first place, is dramatically smaller than the huge leads we see he has over Ron DeSantis and Nikki Haley.

And I think for the folks who are battling it out for number two, the person with the wind at her -- wind in her sails and at her back is Nikki Haley.

From the infighting we're seeing in Ron DeSantis' camp, the slide he's experiencing might be inexorable.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Eliana Johnson, is Iowa a must-win or at least a must proving that you have got some positive momentum for Ron DeSantis?

And is New Hampshire the must-win or proving that you're gaining positive momentum for Nikki Haley?

ELIANA JOHNSON: Iowa is a must win for Ron DeSantis.

He has staked so much energy on that state.

And I do think he's got to win there to keep his campaign alive.

These guys are not running for understudy or second place.

They're running to displace former President Donald Trump and to win this nomination.

And by the same token, I think Nikki Haley has to win one of these early states.

She's performing best in New Hampshire.

I think Chris Christie has to drop out of this race for her to do that.

His voters are likely to go to her.

And a win in New Hampshire would set her up nicely for her home state of South Carolina, which comes next.

Of course, Donald Trump remains the strong front-runner, but we have seen crazier things happen.

Never say never.

There's another debate, at least one more, between now and then.

And poll after poll shows that Republicans might say they support Trump, but they also say they're open to other candidates.

So we will have to see what happens.

NICK SCHIFRIN: I have 40 seconds left, and I will say that I am grateful on this Thanksgiving for my family and their support.

So, each of you have 20 seconds.

Jonathan Capehart, what are you grateful for?

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Nick, I am grateful for science.

On Sunday, I tested positive for COVID, so I have been at home since -- since Sunday.

And three years ago right now, the nation was listening to ambulance sirens, hearing about hospitals that were overflowing with people who had come down with coronavirus, folks who were intubated, folks who passed away without being able to see their family.

And because of science, I got a positive COVID diagnosis, and the -- what, the most major thing that I have had to deal with were sniffles.

I'm thankful for science.

NICK SCHIFRIN: And we are thankful that you are feeling relatively well.

Eliana, you got about 20, 30 seconds.

ELIANA JOHNSON: Nick, I'm with you.

I'm grateful for my family, and particularly watching these excruciating scenes of families in Israel.

I pray for the return of their small children, many under the age of 5.

I'm grateful for the health, safety and security of my daughter and to live in what hopefully still is the greatest country in the world.

NICK SCHIFRIN: Eliana Johnson, Jonathan Capehart, thank you very much to you both.

JONATHAN CAPEHART: Thanks Nick.

ELIANA JOHNSON: Thank you.