Clinton presses for Israel-Hamas cease-fire

>>> back to the serious situation we're monitoring in the middle east . secretary clinton is in cairo this morning meeting with egyptian president mohamed morsi who has emerged as a key mediator as the u.s. presses for a ceasefire between israel and hamas . it's a delicate balancing act for the new egyptian leader who was swept to power at the backing of the muslim brother who had who has historically been an ally of hamas . jim maceda joins us from cairo . to me this is the most fascinating subplot within the tension between israel and hamas , the role of egypt . what is mohamed morsi's role in all of this and is there any sense of agreement from the egyptians they're trying to help ease the tension? we know president obama has been on the phone with mohamed morsi constantly over the last 48 hours .

>> reporter: hi there, luke. we'll get more of an idea after secretary of state clinton meets with president morsi. she is just wrapping up that meeting. she is then going to see the foreign minister here and then give a press conference. hopefully in terms of the agreement, the second part of your question, we'll be getting some answers. in terms of morsi's role, as you say, he's a key mediator here. and if he emerges with a deal, there's no question but that this man, and keep in mind he's the former leader of the muslim brotherhood , he will emerge as a top regional power broker, that everyone will have to listen to. but the question is, will he get a deal? i mean, both sides seem to be close. they said they were close, within hours yesterday. that didn't happen. they just don't seem yet to be able to close the deal and that does give secretary of state hillary clinton 's visit here much more urgency.

>> jim , and real quick, we've seen a lot of protests in egypt over the last few months in regards to their own power struggle , but just from your feeling being there on the ground, the scitizenry has obviously had their own very spirited opinions about israel for some time, mubarak had that long-standing peace agreement but, of course, he was deposed. what does the public feel about this conflict and how much pressure are they exerting on morsi? is there any fear of egyptian public protesting any type of deal?

>> reporter: well, interestingly enough, there really haven't been protests of that nature. the protests that you are seeing, and they're small protests though they have been violent over the past three or four days, those are more about the ongoing problems of thrashing out a constitution here. people have not taken to the streets, and that's a very surprising thing. we haven't seen banners or protests of any kind related to support or a lack of support for president morsi. i think there's a sense that if there is -- if he manages to get a deal, that's good for morsi. it's good for egypt and it's good for the egyptian people and that's what they're hoping for most of all. they also want to see america's involvement. it's interesting the positive reaction to secretary of state clinton 's arrival here, her engagement, and the american administration's engagement in general. egyptians say that america turned a blind eye and it has for the last two administrations and it hopes that attitude is going to change now as well. back to you, luke.

>> jim maceda on the ground in cairo , be sach. happy thanksgiving wishes across the atlantic. be well. and we would expect to hear from secretary clinton anytime about her meeting with egyptian president mohamed morsi when those comments become available. we hope to bring them to you live. obviously egypt will be very important mediator and player in this between israel and hamas . our prethanksgiving panel will be here. we have the white house soup of the day . a very easy one, chicken noodle . we like chicken noodle . it's nice they don't have any turkey soups, pardon the turkey, you can't serve him in the mess hall. and don't forget to check out our website rundown.msnbc.com. i don't spend money