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friends after this. >> the joe schmo show premieres tuesday at nine on tbs. set your dvr now. this is cnn breaking news. >> hello, i'm dana bash, and welcome to state of the union. >> we do begin with the breaking news. three of hamas hostages are back home on israeli soil. right here. you are looking at the moment they crossed over the border from gaza into israel. and here they are in pink sweatshirts. a bit earlier, leaving gaza city surrounded by packed crowds and armed masked hamas militants. the three israeli women, 24 year old romi gonin, 31 year old doron steinbrecher and 28 year old emily damari are said to be in good physical condition and they are the first of 33 hostages set to be released by hamas over a 42 day cease fire. israel today in exchange, is set to release dozens of palestinian prisoners

and detainees. i want to go straight to a special moment before i go to the region to show you the mothers of those three young israeli women released today watching the video of their daughters heading towards freedom. and we are following this. in addition to other big breaking news, including the fact that donald trump will be inaugurated at this very time tomorrow. much more on that to come. but first, let's go to the region and get information from cnn's jeremy diamond about where exactly these former, now former hostages are and what their condition is. jeremy. >> well, dana, as you said, it does appear that these three women who have been held hostage for over 15 months now inside the gaza strip by hamas, are in what is being reported to us as good medical condition. they were able to get out of those hamas vehicles and into the red cross

vehicles. it appears, on their own two feet, and soon thereafter they were transferred from the red cross into israeli military hands and then crossed into israel right behind me. now, what you have is the reem military base, which is where we believe that they have been now for nearly an hour, getting initial evaluations and, crucially, meeting with their mothers for the first time in 15 months behind me as well. it's probably hard to see right now in the dark, but you have the silhouettes of two military transport helicopters which are waiting here on standby to transport those three newly freed hostages. romi, emily and doron to a hospital in central israel. and from then on, we understand that they will likely stay in those hospitals, perhaps for as much as four days, if they agree to those conditions, in order to make sure that they are fully rehabilitated, or at least on their way towards rehabilitation, both physical

and mental, we know that at least two of these women had been shot and injured on october 7th, as they were being taken into captivity. but certainly, dana, this is a remarkable and very emotional moment, not just for the families of these three women, but really for the whole of the country of israel, where people have been so connected to the stories of these hostages, know them on a first name basis. you don't need to say rami ganon. you don't need to say emily damari. you just say romi and emily and doron. and that is indeed the feeling. at the same time, dana, we've also been watching some remarkable moments inside of the gaza strip as well, where we have seen people for the first time in over a year, experiencing some sense of safety and security as aid has begun to go in as bombs and missiles have stopped being dropped in gaza. and as people are finally able to celebrate and reunite with loved ones. dana.

>> here with me now are two families, deeply and personally affected by the hamas attacks of october 7th. the alexander family and the neutra family. adi and yael, i want to start with you. you are watching as this cease fire takes place. the release of the first hostages. and you know that your son is going to be in the second phase, which will happen. who knows when, right? i can't imagine what that feels like. a very difficult feeling. but i woke up today with, i don't know, like a strong feeling of like it's happening. we are there. there is a deal. some hostages, female hostages will be released today and i'm very excited to see them finally. and i know, like i'm feeling hopeful that the second phase

will come. and also the third phase. and we are in a good track. like this is my belief. adi. >> um, it's really difficult, but my hope is between now and 42 days from now. um, eden will be out. we have to try harder. and convey the message to the parties that they have to start to talk about the second phase. now, do not wait 16 days. start it tomorrow and just push it forward and make sure that the all the phases. are concluded. >> and ronen and orna, we learned last month that your beautiful son omer was in fact murdered on october 7th by hamas terrorists. and again, i can't imagine what you're feeling this morning. you obviously are waiting for your son to come home, too. do you have any idea at what

phase that might happen? >> honestly, it remains. >> um, they say that remains are going to be released throughout the phases, but he's not on the list of the first phase. we believe that it's a duty of the israeli government to bring all the 98 hostages out. we are hearing from the trump administration that they will support and push for the release of all the hostages, and we remain optimistic, being americans as well, that president trump will take care of our american hostages, as well as all the other hostages. that's what we hear. that's the commitment we hear. and we have to be optimistic and drive toward that goal you know, we've gone through so much since october 7th. >> i feel my heart is exploding. you know, the women, three women are coming out today. their families have been waiting for them for such a long time. there's

anticipation. there's anxiety. there's so much goodness that's coming out of this and so much that can go wrong. and we have to stick with it and make sure that it's only starting today, and you have to see it through until all 97 hostages are brought home, including our son. >> the politics in israel right now. well, the politics in israel is always interesting, but particularly for prime minister netanyahu, there is a lot of pressure on him to by right wing members of his government and his coalition not to move forward after this phase, to continue or restart fighting in gaza against hamas. what is your message to the prime minister on that? >> our son, this is personal, right? he volunteered and moved to israel to defend

the jewish state and its people. he deserves to come back. he deserves to be brought home for a proper burial. and of course, the innocent citizens that were dragged out of their beds that day or taken from a party, they must come home. and i know that the prime minister knows this, and he has committed to bringing them all home. and we must make sure that, you know, he follows through and ensures that the government approves this. you know, we have no choice. >> there is a huge wound in the israeli society right now. there's a lack of trust. trust was broken. and the only way to heal it is by bringing the hostages back. israel society values life more than anything, and we have to show our own people and the world that we're bringing

them all out. we're letting in a terrible deal because it's a deal with the devil. letting go to people with the blood on their hands. terrorists are going to get out. it's horrible. but we value life. we're going to bring our people back. and then those people that have their blood on their life also have an x on their chest, and they will be taken out. i'm pretty sure. with time, israel will take care of them. >> uh, as we mentioned, unfortunately, you found out that your son died on october 7th at dawn is believed to be alive. of course, you have believed the whole time. can you talk about how it feels to see other people who are going to be released this morning? i know you said you're you're very hopeful and it makes you so happy to see the the three women. we're going to see today. but looking ahead to the

hope of seeing a dawn cross that border, it's very tough. uh, hamas released a video on thanksgiving weekend, and it was our first time after 421 days that we saw dawn and hiram. and just to see how easy like it was the first time that we got something from the inside. and it was very emotional. i'm looking at this video every day, every every everything that he's doing in the video. it's like, i want to see, like i want to see if it's really maidan and i'm i'm just thankful for this proves proof of life. and i know he's strong and he will continue to survive. and hopefully he will release soon. and you feel confident he's going to be in phase two. if, assuming that you have the same confidence, there is a phase two. >> president elect trump stated publicly and privately he

doesn't want this for on his plate. on january 20th, and after looking at it's yesterday's tweet, we we understand that, uh, his full intention to implement this deal to finish the war, get into the permanent ceasefire and to get everybody out. so this commitment keeps us moving forward. we are hopeful maybe it will happen sooner. i hope so, but we we just have to be patient and and pray. this is the time to pray. >> um, the strength and the resolve and the commitment that you have all shown on behalf of your beautiful sons has been extraordinary, and it obviously is going to continue. thank you so much. thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you. and we are following the breaking news out of israel as the first three hostages freed from gaza return to their homeland.

stay with us. >> after a big comeback, donald trump begins his second term. history unfolds live on cnn. join jake tapper and anderson cooper as the 45th president. donald john trump becomes the 47th. the inauguration of donald trump tomorrow at eight on cnn. >> did you take your vitamin today? >> that's my job nature made. >> made with quality ingredients. made to care for you every day from nature made the number one pharmacist. recommended vitamin and supplement brand. >> if you're 50 or over, you can be taking advantage of everything aarp has to offer right now. join aarp for $15 for one year with automatic renewal, and your second membership is free. get

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president-elect trump to be laying a wreath at the tomb of the unknowns at some point in the next hour or so. my terrific panel is here with me, david axelrod. i want to start with you. you have been in the white house on a day, one of a presidency, a few different promises. when barack obama took office. but to put this in perspective, is just listening to president trump that his first executive order should be to make day one like a year long. >> i think that would that would make his life easier. >> listen, i think it is important to get out of the box quickly and signify that you are following through on the commitments you made as a candidate. they've clearly been planning that for months. i think a lot of the attention is going to be on the immigration issue, which was central to his election. the question is, are there other things that happen on day one that are not widely supported by the public pardons? and, you know, overreaches and and will the

immigration issue eclipse all of that? >> and this morning, mike waltz who is going to be president-elect trump's national security adviser, said that just just taking the immigration as one example, that that is going to happen within minutes of trump taking the oath of office. the question we still don't fully know is in what form is he going to fulfill those promises on immigration? >> it looks like there are a number of ways that they're at least foreshadowing that they plan to take executive action on day one. you're going to see likely work, one to build the wall to make that reinforcement there, but you'll also see where they want to begin the negotiations on remain in mexico policy and asylum seekers. totally. so you're starting to see them take that aggressive posture where when they get into the white house, donald trump is going to do what he said he would do for the american people, which is deliver secure border in the united states. he's going to start taking those steps. and that's really critical because to david's point, hitting the

ground running, coming into day one of the administration, donald trump only has four years. this is his second term. so he's got to get on the ground and get moving immediately. and i expect a lot of executive action on the border. >> yeah, i was just going to say on the on the border. right. we saw new york times, ipsos had a poll out yesterday. 80% of americans far more than support donald trump, support deportation of criminal aliens. immediately, 80% of americans. that's an incredible number. and so i think americans are going to see some of these. >> well, you you you read the new york times, i read the wall street journal and their polls also said that 70% don't want long term immigrants deported, don't want these dreamers deported. >> so he has to choose his targets carefully. >> yeah, but listen to to your point, david, there are a million, 1.6 million criminal aliens here adjudicated ready for deportation, probably another 500,000. so you've done this in the obama administration. that's almost that's over 2 million people

ready to go to be deported. that's going to take a little bit of time. i just that's going to take a little bit of time and let's get at it, america, because that's what people want to see. >> i'm just trying to chime in before the ravens bills game. guys. >> let's go buffalo. >> so i disagree with you slightly about the fact that he has four years. >> i think that the president has about 18 months. right. and he probably doesn't have that much goodwill. he probably has about 100 days of goodwill from the american public, but he has about 18 months, because that's when you'll start to see the house kind of shrink a little bit, a little bit more friction, because we'll be ready for reelection. and democrats feel as if they can take back the house. so he has to do as much as he can as quickly as possible. that's first. the second thing is, i'm not as concerned about day one. we were talking about this on the way over here just a little bit. day two i think on tuesday, when they actually start these mass deportations, i think that the president of the united states has picked on a foe in the city of chicago and the mayor of chicago, which he can easily run circles around. and i don't try to come on tv and well, last.

wait. hold on. >> wait. who can run circles around that? >> trump can run circles around the mayor of chicago. >> he's very unpopular. 14% approval rating. i think that there is a danger for democrats if trump takes steps that people believe are reasonable, and democrats reflexively resist, and he's chosen a foe in chicago who will do who's most likely to be. >> and that's and that's my point, because to david's point, yes. do we want to deport individuals who are here illegal, who've committed crimes? yes. >> but we know that. i love bakari. agreed. >> but this is where we disagree. your reputation is. yeah, you you won't get into an inauguration party tonight at all. >> i got my tickets already, thank god. >> but the difference is, the difference is what's going to happen is when you have these individuals who've committed, committed crimes, who also lived with individuals who are here illegally, who have not done anything wrong, who do. it's not tricky. it's going to be anti-american. and that imagery is going to be a problem. but democrats have to

be nuanced enough. and look, i wish much. i much rather prefer him going into little rock with frank scott or birmingham with randall woodfin or atlanta with andre dickens. but but let's let's ask david. >> let's ask david, how did barack obama do it? he deported a lot of people. >> yeah, more than donald trump. >> can i just ask you how you do it? i want to ask david a different question, which is just kind of picking up where your friend rahm emanuel left off with me this morning on kind of what you're talking about, which is how do democrats pick and choose where to say hair on fire with donald trump almost certainly going to fulfill all of the promises that he made, at least rhetorically? well, on issues that they don't believe in, promises, then then he's going to have problems. >> they have to be discreet about which ones are actually popular. but democrats also have to be commonsensical. people do want the border under control. people do want accountability. when, when, when people break the law, whether they're presidents or

immigrants. and so, you know, i think they have to be thoughtful. and if he does things. listen, i remember rush limbaugh saying the day that obama took office, i am rooting for him to fail. i think it's the wrong thing to root for a president to fail. if that president does things that are actually going to improve people's lives, and that should be the test. >> and what are the litmus test this week, though, with the laken riley act coming through the senate? right. they've already they're going into the final vote. can we as a country put together, put aside the partisanship that immigration has become this hot button issue and start to take steps together? this is going to be a litmus test. but aaron, aaron. >> aaron, what are some of the things that you're concerned about trump doing and going too far? i mean, that's probably where do we start. >> but this is this is a hypothetical. i think this needs to be a tailored approach when it comes to how we're going to be removing people from the united states who have been adjudicated, and they should not be here. we need to make sure that that is a thoughtful process, and we are not just doing mass sweeps. you

want to make sure because we should know that is what he promised. well, he said he would get a lot of people out of the country. that's the important part here. when there's over a million that already have been adjudicated through the process, that's a lot of people, but they shouldn't be here anyway. >> you're going to need a lot of cooperation. this is the chicago point. you're going to need a lot of cooperation from state and local officials here, because the, the the federal officials don't know where everybody is. they can't they don't have the manpower. it's just going to be very difficult to do. so you're going to need a lot of coordination, a lot of collaboration. and to david's point, i think it's incumbent upon all americans, right? if we want to make this country a better place at the end of the day, to work together on these types of things, we can agree, we can find common ground. but the obama administration did this. we can we can agree that bad people who shouldn't be here, not dreamers. there are a lot of good people here doing good things. but listen, america needs it. we got to get rid of the bad people. >> i, the five of us, or at least the four of us on this side of the table, agree, right? we would all raise our hand and vote for that. that's a new day in america. but that's. but that's not that's not what we're that's not what i'm presuming david and i are talking about. what

we're talking about are those people who may be here illegally, maybe going through the process, but have not committed a crime. right? right. we're talking about those people who are essential to our supply side, right? the people who go to work every day, who may do those menial jobs that no one else wants to do. when you're rounding up those people, you're going to see the residual impacts of that. and one of the things we haven't talked about is ending birthright citizenship. if donald trump does that tomorrow, what's the day tomorrow? if he does that tomorrow? i mean, think about the effects. >> i mean, but it's not. >> he can't he can't, you can't, you can't. >> beyond which it's not it's not particularly popular. >> and also, donald, i mean, it shouldn't be. i mean, if you look at vivek ramaswamy, i mean, you have that is the perfect example on the republican side of birthright citizenship. >> we need to be very honest in this. >> i know there's some would argue that that proves the other point. >> i mean, it's funny that vivek says he wants to end birthright citizens, but we need to be honest in this conversation, though, because donald trump has not said that he wants to round up everybody. >> he is being very clear that it is criminals. it's been those who've been adjudicated

in the process right now. but we need to make tom herman. >> but tom herman has said, homan homan, excuse me, but tom homan has said that if that mixed mixed status families, they will be separated. >> that happens. >> no, no, no, he said, that wasn't the question. the question was said, how do you not separate them? he said, we round them up and we take, we do. we deport everybody. that's what homan said. >> he said. he said, you can all leave together. >> it's very complicated. and the question is, how thoughtful are they going to be and how much do they want to provoke confrontation that they think are in their political? >> the good news is the good news for america. the border is going to be secure, right? they're going to secure the border, which is. americans want to see done. and we're going to have criminals deported. i think all americans can agree that's a great thing. >> okay. we are. it's 1226, which means about this time tomorrow, donald trump will officially be president. right now, joe biden is still president. he's in south carolina about to give his last major address. and we will dip into that when it happens. and of course, monitor, as i mentioned, president elect

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effects lead to dehydration, which may cause kidney problems with wegovy. >> i'm losing weight. >> i'm keeping it off and i'm lowering my cv risk. >> wegovy. ask your prescriber about wegovy. >> we just signed the lease on our third shop. >> my assistant went to customink.com to get new uniforms with all the locations. he found great products, uploaded new art, and had boxes sent to all the shops. custom ink makes it so easy. get started today@customink.com. >> it's his last full day in office. and president biden is giving remarks in a state near and dear to his heart. south carolina. he's at the royal missionary baptist church in north charleston. let's listen. >> please, please, before i before i begin, let me tell you what i told jim about 20 minutes ago. i used to

start off as a young kid, getting involved in the civil rights. my state, delaware, to his great shame, was a was. a anyway fought in the wrong side of the war. my state was segregated by law. my state, delaware, was no different in terms of those laws than south carolina and other southern state. and like two other states, just couldn't figure out how to get in the fight inside the south because it was cut off. but the southern two parts of my state to talk fun like you all do down here. you know what i mean? and but all kidding aside, i. i used to. i used to go when i got engaged in the. i didn't plan on it. i love reading these biographies and how i knew i was going to be president. i was going to run for president, et cetera. the truth of the matter was that i'm a kid who talk about impediments. i used to talk,

talk, talk, talk like that. i used to stutter came from came from my. a, you know, came from a place called claymont, delaware. a lot of steel town all went bankrupt. come from scranton, pennsylvania. and things didn't work out so well because of the economy. but you know what? every time, every time i spent time in the black church, i was telling jim, i think the one thing the word hope no. not a joke. i so thank you for allowing me to be back in this pulpit. and, senator, thank you for that introduction. i appreciate it. you know, you made a really moving sermon, pastor. and and thank you for the congregation of rural missionary baptist church and welcoming you back to charleston to worship with you. i prayed with you

here in february of 2020 when i was running for president, and my final full day as president of all the places i wanted to be, was back here with you. thank you. i first got involved, first got involved in public life because of the civil rights movement. i attend 730 mass at my church, then to go to another morning service at the ame church in delaware. the black church, the spiritual home of the black experience that helped redeem the soul of the nation, literally. that's the truth we honor. on the weekend, we celebrate one of the political heroes. my political heroes. many of yours, doctor martin luther king. i have two busts in my office that i can see from my desk. i had two political heroes growing up. doctor king and bobby kennedy. yes. no.

i'm serious. you've been in my office, jim. there's two busts i see from my desk on sundays. we often reflect on resurrection and redemption. we remember jesus was buried on friday, and he rose on sunday. we don't talk enough about saturday, when the disciples felt all hope was lost. our lives and the lives of the nation. we have those saturdays we bear to bear witness to the day before glory and some people's pain are in pain and they can't look away. but what the work we do on. saturday is going to determine whether we move with pain or purpose. how can faith get a person, get a nation through what's to come? here's what my faith has taught me. scripture says as

iron sharpens iron, so one person sharpens another person. that's what faith and friendship has taught me. and friends in south carolina, like jim and emily clyburn, i could not be standing here. i would not be standing. that's not hyperbole. i would not be standing here in this pulpit, would not for jim clyburn. although somewhat presumptuous of me neither to be standing here without emily, who we all miss dearly and who actually made jim endorse me thank you. emily. south carolina friends like fritz and peachy hollings, who lead me when i got through one of the most difficult times in my life when i was a 26 year, nine year old kid, i got a phone call

saying my wife and daughter were dead and my two boys were not likely to live. well, guess what, jim? emily, fritz and peace and so many friends in south carolina have always been there for me, especially in those saturdays when i felt all hope was gone. those days when i buried pieces of my soul my wife, my daughter, my son beau, who the attorney general of delaware. when i felt like there was just a black hole in my chest sucking me into it. anger and rage that i felt at the time. but then friends, your friends bear witness. they see your pain. they pick you up. they help you get to saturday, to sunday. from pain to purpose. i felt that

faith in friendship when i prayed to this congregation. when they played with the congregation, prayed with the congregation of mother emanuel. i went there and tried to confront them on my own. saturday, but it was they who ended up comforting me as we arrived together and found grace together, moved from pain to purpose, strengthened my faith and the service of others. to love the lord thy god with all thy heart and soul, and all thy mind, and love thy neighbor as thyself. very easy to say yes, but very hard to do. but in the words. those words are the essence of the gospel is the essence of the american promise. the idea, as was mentioned earlier, that we're all created equal in the image of god and deserve to be

treated equally throughout our lives. my dad used to say, the greatest sin of all is the abuse of power. we've never fully lived up to that commitment, but we've never walked away from it either. because of you and your ancestors before us who followed light of the north star. even in darkness. after this service, i'll be visiting the international african american museum. it captures the ongoing story of redemption. i'll tour the exhibits, and i'll speak about the power of history to make real the promise of america for all americans. but this morning, i'd like to talk about the essential piece of redemption, the power of mercy and justice with experience, wisdom, conscience, compassion, and science. we

know how healing and restoration from harm is a pathway to the kind of communities we want to live in, where there's fairness, justice accountability, and a system where the people we love go through hard times, fall down, make mistakes, but we're right there to help them get back up. we don't turn on each other. we lean into each other. that's the sacred covenant of our nation. we pledge an allegiance not just to an idea, but to each other. that's who we're pledging allegiance to. that's how i viewed my decision to issue more individual pardons and commutations than any president in american history, to inspire. and end federal death penalty by commuting most of those sentences to life in prison without parole to commute the sentences of individuals

serving disproportionately hard, long, and harsh sentences for nonviolent drug offenses compared to the sentence they would have received today. and commuting their crime to show mercy for individuals who did their time or significant significant amount of time, and have shown significant remorse and rehabilitation to understand that supervision after release is critical. to provide accountability and support while knowing that government supervision over a very long time serves neither the interests of the person or the public. these decisions are difficult. some have never been done before, but in my experience with my conscience, i believe taken together, justice and mercy requires as a nation to bear witness, to see people's pain, not to look away and do the work. to move

pain to purpose, to show we can get a person, a nation, to a day of redemption. we know the struggle toward redeeming the soul of this nation is difficult and ongoing. >> as we monitor president biden's speech, i want to get straight back to the middle east. we do see the convoy carrying the three female hostages who were released heading in and around kerem shalom. i want to go to jeremy diamond, who is there on the ground. jeremy, can you talk about what you're seeing? and also, we talked this morning about the. unfortunate symmetry of the return here versus the very violent. departure that these women had on october 7th.

>> yeah. that's right. dana. we are in reem, which is also where that nova music festival was held on october 7th, 2023. ramy gonin was attending that festival just over 15 months ago, and that is where she was not only shot and wounded during hamas's brutal attack on that festival, but she was also then taken hostage and whisked away into the gaza strip for the last 15 months, she, as well as doron steinbrecher and emily damari, have been held captive by hamas inside of gaza. and now we know that they have been reunited with at least part of their families. the three mothers of these newly freed hostages were here at the reem base in order to to greet them and to embrace them for the first time, we've started to see some of those pictures being released by the israeli military of these very, very emotional reunions. and what you're now seeing on your screen appears to be the convoy

of vehicles leading directly to these military helicopters that are waiting on this field right next to the military base. and this is exactly the choreography that we've been told to anticipate to see these vehicles coming out of the base, taking them to the foot of these helicopters from where they will be taken and brought to the sheba medical center, a major hospital on the outskirts of tel aviv. and so that is indeed the moment that we are expecting. and again, we will see this moment play out again. hopefully, as long as the ceasefire holds, dana, the next time will be on day seven, this coming saturday. and then after that, every week we will see three hostages expected to be released from captivity and jeremy, talk a little bit about and i'm not sure if we have this information, but you said that there are some

members of these three young women of their families who with who are with them now. >> do we know who they are? i know we saw some video of their. >> we know that. >> go ahead we know that the mothers of the three women came here to the re'im military base, and that they have indeed been reunited with their daughters. >> they've already been at this military base now for over an hour and a half, nearly two hours at this point where they've been undergoing a kind of initial evaluation by a team of medical and psychological professionals that the israeli military has brought here. we know that we got word that the red cross told israeli officials that they appeared to be in, quote, good medical condition. we've seen images of them being exchanged inside of gaza, from hamas vehicles to red cross vehicles, being able to stand and walk on their own two feet. and i think you can still see some of the movement that is happening here

of vehicles moving closer to the helicopters. you may actually be seeing it better on your screen, dana, than than what i'm seeing from here. it's quite dark, but but these vehicles are moving closer to the helicopters now, it seems. >> yes, it is quite dark. what we're seeing on our on our screens, what our viewers are seeing, jeremy, is the images from where you are on the right side. on the left side is the jubilation in hostage square, which bianna golodryga was there earlier today. i know you have been there a lot over the past 15 months or so, and it it's been the place where everybody has gathered. and even after the cease fire hostage deal was announced a few days ago, people were gathering. but there was more of a of a somber mood. and i can just see that it is now kind of a combination of still anticipatory

and and. celebration. jeremy, just a little bit about where they are going to go once they get on that helicopter and what the lessons learned by israeli officials are based on. go all the way back to when the hostages were there for 51 days, and the first and only round of of hostages were released. back then. november of 2023. what was learned from that experience? >> yeah, well, we've been hearing from medical professionals at the various hospitals that are preparing to receive these newly freed hostages, as well as from the ministry of health in israel. and they say that they've learned a lot of lessons from november, late november of 2023, when we saw dozens of hostages released at the time. one of them was to give them more privacy in these hospitals. and so we've seen specific wards of these hospitals set up and prepare to be closed off for these

hostages of newly freed hostages, to be there with medical professionals and, of course, with their families. and there's a longer period of time that's now being recommended for them to remain in those hospitals for for four days now is what's being suggested. as long as again, those newly freed hostages and their families are in agreement with that. but of course, the situation is very different this time because, you know, you talk last time about more than 50 days of captivity that those hostages endured at the time. and now, dana, we are talking about, you know, nearly 500 days of captivity, 15 months in, in conditions that have ranged depending on various hostages experience. but we certainly know that many of them have been held in tunnels for months on end without seeing daylight. they have been, you know, i've been inside those tunnels in gaza where we see quite sweltering conditions, very uncomfortable. and we also know

from some of the videos that have been released, you know, the video of doron steinbrecher that was released a year ago this month. i spoke with her mother, simona, about that, and she said that, you know, she didn't recognize her daughter in the same way because she had clearly lost weight. she appeared gaunt. and that was a year ago. so the concerns of the families, for the well-being of these hostages have been there for quite some time already, and certainly at this moment, after 15 months, they will be there again. but but now again, at least this moment of of joy and reconciliation, but no doubt a long and tough road ahead. >> and jeremy, we are seeing vehicles come one by one up to the helicopter. it could be that they are bringing each of the women there individually as they prepare to get on that helicopter and go to the medical center, as you described. speaking of that, jeremy, stand by for me, if you will. i want to go back to bianna, who is there at the

location where this helicopter will be headed. bianna, what are they going to be greeted with? and by? bianna? i'm not sure if you can hear me. can you give us a sense of what's happening? oh, sorry. >> no, i didn't hear you there. yes. so behind me, you see the helipad where we are expecting the three hostages to be arriving any moment now. we are getting news that emily damari has lost two fingers. those fingers were lost on october 7th as the terror attack from hamas. gunfire. this is being reported by her family. so it's. everything is relative. one could say that they are in good enough health to arrive here at sheba hospital, where they might not need the intense medical treatment that had been feared of other of other hostages. but given that we now

know from her family that she has sustained an injury where she lost two of her fingers and that was from october 7th of 2023, you get an understanding of how the hospital will be responding here. they will be greeted here by medical staff. and then, as jeremy noted, they will be brought into a separate, isolated ward here that they've learned lessons from 2023. sadly, about the the painful experience of having too much exposure to the media, to the press in those early days, those early moments. of course, one can understand the nation wanting to see these jubilant moments of families being reunited. but it's not only the families of the hostages that are being brought here, it's also a reminder of the families who have yet to be reunited with their with their family members that are still in gaza. the remaining hostages is why they said, we're not going to be showing much information at all. we don't

know if we'll be getting any sort of press briefing later on throughout the evening from medical doctors. i went to one of the six hospitals, not sheba, but a different hospital in tel aviv, to take a look at how they had been preparing for this very moment. a dermatology unit had been completely transformed to house at least nine hostages along with their families. they have adjacent rooms. they are expected to stay advised to stay for at least four days, and that's where they go through an assortment of testing, evaluations, therapy. they have psychologists on hand as well. they have forensic doctors that one can understand the the uncomfortable conversations. at some point that medical experts and investigators want to start having with them slowly, just to get a sense of what their experience was like, and also get any information they can on the remaining hostages in gaza if they can provide them with any information. >> and i just want to alert you and our viewers that we got new

video in of images of these three women being transferred by the red cross to the israeli military. let's watch. >> and this is image. these are images, i believe, that were released just moments ago by the idf as as these three women arrived across the border into israeli territory a moment. >> what a moment. these women. >> it's a moment this country has been waiting for. >> for the hug. look at the hug. yes. and it's going to take a long time to even begin to comprehend what they have been going through. you mentioned, as we look at these extraordinary moments and images, bianna, that emily damari, according to her mother, lost several

fingers while her mother, mandy damari, has previously said that her daughter was shot in the hand, injured by shrapnel in her leg, blindfolded, bundled into the back of her own car and driven into gaza. we should also note that she's the only remaining british citizen held in gaza. diana yes, and we are waiting to hear more medical information on doron and romi. >> the other two female hostages that will be traveling with emily here. no word yet on their physical conditions. we do know that they were reunited with their parents. and once they come here to sheba, as i said, dana, they will be evaluated. all of the doctors at any of the six hospitals where they would be transferred all have their medical records even prior to obviously,

october 7th. so if they have any underlying conditions, they are fully aware of that they are fully prepared to treat them. and as we noted, they are advised to stay for at least four days. and we're hoping once they arrive and again, you're looking at the heliport behind me, the helipad behind me, then we will be waiting to see if there are any press updates from the medical officials. >> and, bianna, you can't see this, but the other side of your screen is where the helicopter is going to take off. jeremy, what are you seeing? >> well, dana, we're starting to hear the helicopter engines revving up, beginning to worry here. so it seems like we are close to the moment when they will take off. and in fact, we were able to see actually some individuals getting into those helicopters not long ago wasn't able to confirm whether or not it was indeed these newly freed hostages. but but that is again, what we've been

told to expect here is for them to get into these helicopters and to be taken to that sheba medical center just outside of tel aviv. and so we are hearing, hearing the sound of of the engine again waiting for, for them to take off and, and make their way to that hospital jeremy, can you just you've been there since october 7th, quite literally. >> i believe that's the day you landed in israel. talk about this moment. >> i mean, you know, 15, over 15 months of covering this story. you know, it has been one tragedy after the next every single day. and this is only the second time really, in terms of a long period of time where i've been able to report good news. the last real moment was that week long cease fire that ultimately collapsed after seven days. and then it is now. and and the

hope, of course, is that this moment will last this time, that it will last. those six weeks that we will see those 33 hostages scheduled to be released, come out of gaza, most of them expected to be alive. and, of course, that we will see the the kind of safety that people in gaza are now experiencing today for the first time in over a year, that that will also last. and certainly that hope is is very much in the air in a way that it has not been for over 15 months now. >> and this framework, which was written by and born out of the biden administration, president biden, secretary of state antony blinken, and they worked on it for months and months and months since may, even before may, we know that the current secretary of state, blinken, gave a lengthy address last week talking specifically

about the fact that there is a way forward, thanks to this framework beyond phase one, which is just starting. we should say that hopefully this will continue. we're going to see this today and then similar images, people being freed next week and the week after. and then when the 33 are done in phase one, they have an entire prescription for what to do. after that, it is going to be entirely up to the trump administration and donald trump himself to keep that going, along with all of the parties who have a lot of internal politics and. philosophical differences, to say the least. >> without a doubt. and and, you know, while certainly the intention of the biden administration, the intention of the united states and of egypt was indeed to, for the six week cease fire to turn into something longer lasting, to turn into an end of the war, as the president himself said

earlier this week, we have already been hearing on the first day of the ceasefire voices in israel that are casting doubt on the possibility of of that six week ceasefire turning into something more enduring. just today, the foreign minister gideon sa'ar, pointing out that hamas has not yet been defeated militarily, that its government structures are still in place. and indeed today we have seen many images of hamas fighters, the qassam brigades in the streets, trying to put out a show of force in this kind of information warfare, and to show that after more than 15 months, that they are still standing. and so the israeli prime minister we know, has already come under heavy, heavy pressure from his right wing not to extend the ceasefire past six weeks because of that fact, because hamas has not been absolutely defeated. if that is even possible. and again, dana, now we are seeing the helicopter. the rotors are turning. and i think this is the moment when we expect a liftoff.