CNN’s Lee: Biden Nearly Gave up Sensitive Info. on Hostage Talks, Needed Blinken’s Help to Avoid Doing So

On Wednesday’s broadcast of CNN’s “AC360,” CNN Senior White House Correspondent MJ Lee reported that President Joe Biden almost started revealing too much sensitive information about negotiations over the hostages held by Hamas during his press conference that day, and had to look to Secretary of State Antony Blinken to see if he was giving away too many details.

Lee said, “Anderson, if I could just note one more very interesting moment that stood out to me and — helpful, because I was sitting so close to the front row, I was in the second row, the first row of reporters in this press conference, when President Biden was asked about the ongoing hostage negotiations, he said that he was mildly hopeful. He started to talk about a pause that Israel may have agreed to. And then he looked over at Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who was sitting right in front of him, and made some remark about how perhaps he shouldn’t get too much into the detail[s]. And Secretary Blinken [shook] his head no, definitely do not get into too much of the details. I thought it was a really interesting moment that captured just how sensitive these negotiations have been. The President, of course, has been sort of optimistic all along, at least in what he has said in his public remarks, that he will ultimately end up seeing these American hostages and others get out. But these negotiations are ongoing. And you can tell, just from that very interaction, that those talks have been incredibly, incredibly sensitive.”

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