it's five years of reliable gig speed internet. five years of advanced securit. five years of a great rate that won't change. it's back. but only for a limited time. high five. five years? -nope. comcast business 5-year price lock guarantee. powering five years of savings. powering possibilities. comcast business. when emergency strikes, first responders are the first ones in... but on outdated networks, the crucial technology they depend on, is limited. that's why t-mobile created t-priority... ...the only solution built for the 5g era, that can dynamically dedicate up to 10 times the capacity for first responders. t-priority. built for tomorrow's emergencies. ready today. (♪♪) for over 50 years. heal that dot. super man. the christopher

reeve story tonight at ten on cnn. this is cnn breaking news. >> and we begin with breaking news in the middle east. we want to give you a live look at nuseirat gaza, where we're waiting for a second hostage handover by hamas. more than 600 palestinian prisoners are expected in return. meanwhile, two other israeli hostages released a short time ago have now arrived at a military base in southern israel. they'll undergo an initial medical checkup and be reunited with their families. i want to bring in cnn chief diplomatic editor nic robertson, live in tel aviv. so, nic, as we watch these images of the red cross vehicles waiting to take those israeli hostages to be released. walk us through what we're expecting here and what we saw earlier today. >> yeah, i think one of the things that we're seeing witnessing here today, i mean, look at the crowd behind me here

in hostages square. certainly a lot more people here than last week. it's a rainy, dull day today. last week it was sunny. there's way more people here now. and part of that is because people understand today is the last known, agreed and planned handover of living hostages. of course, it is hoped and aspired that there will be more coming. but this is the last one that is planned at the moment. what we've seen today, tal shoham being released, 40 years old, looking weak on his feet, looking thin. a very mengistu being released. he too looking very weak, dazed and confused even on the stage, almost sort of held up right by the two big hamas fighters that his side handed over to the red cross, driven away out of gaza, handed over to the idf, cheered by crowds as they were driven up the road to a nearby military base where their families were waiting. we've seen images of their families waiting, cheering, absolutely singing, even in some cases as they're

seeing their loved ones now finally getting their freedom. and we understand that right about now, those families will be or some members of the families will be reuniting with those two men. long waited moment, 11 years for a avera mengistu wandered into gaza in 2014, held hostage ever since. 505 days for tal held hostage. the other hostages were expecting to be released today, four of them being released. the stage, set in nusrat behind us. you can see on the screen here on your own screens there, the red cross vehicles lined up and waiting. typically that does indicate that the handover will be happening soon, but it goes off in a very formalized, propagandized way by hamas signatures by the red cross. the men taken to the stage, sometimes, as we saw with tal shoham today, forced to give speeches before they're actually

handed over. so this is the formula we're expecting here. but those being released in the coming hours will get the same thing. they will get in the red cross vehicles, and that will formalize formalize that moment that ends their captivity. they really turn into free men. i guess you can say when a few minutes later, they get driven out of gaza by the red cross and handed over to the idf, and that's really when they can be free and begin that process of connecting with their loved ones. rebecoming themselves, getting back to their lives and going through that hellish process of trying to. struggle, recover, be helped through the process of unwinding and unraveling through those nightmarish days and nights in the tunnels and in captivity. all the other hostages that have come out and talked about the uncertainty, the shortages of food. and that's, of course, a great concern, waiting here for everyone, waiting to see the condition of these hostages

coming out. two weeks ago, the hostages released looked really emaciated. is that going to be the picture again? here now? certainly. tal shoham and avera mengistu both had lost weight. uh, but you don't know. each group of hostages seems to somehow be treated in a in a slightly different way. and that's what the crowd now is waiting to see. kim. >> yeah. that's right. all right, listen, nic, we'll come back to you if we see any movement there of the hostages being released. in the meantime, i want to bring in gershon baskin, former hostage negotiator and middle east director at the international communities organization. he joins us now from jerusalem. thank you so much for being here with us. so as we wait for this second group of israeli hostages to be released, uh, i imagine, you know, again, looking at these pictures, hamas presumably wants this to go smoothly after the debacle of returning the wrong body. uh, your take on

what we've seen so far and what we're expecting. >> this is. >> the. >> last release of living. >> hostages in this first phase of the deal. and there will be another release next week of, um, bodies of other hostages. hopefully, they will take the precautions to make sure that they are delivering the right bodies next time. unlike what they did with the body of shir shiri bibas. um, i proposed in the name of families to the qataris and the egyptians that an international forensic team be sent to gaza to avoid the kind of mistake that was made with shiri bibas. this is really important. um, but the most important thing now is looking forward to the stage two of this deal, which is supposed to release the rest of the hostages and lead to the end of the war and an israeli withdrawal from gaza. but the big question that's in front of us is who's going to control gaza when this war is over? because if hamas remains there, the war will not end. israel will withdraw from gaza, and maybe all the hostages

won't be returned. and this is really right now in the hands of the international community, the arab world, the arab leaders have been meeting over the last day to discuss the united arab position on putting together a plan for the reconstruction of gaza without the hamas leadership there. it will go to the arab league. and it's really meant to be an alternative to the kind of ethnic cleansing plan that was presented by president bush and president trump. sorry. >> yeah. that's right. i mean, more immediately, in terms of of phase two, i mean, there were two weeks late in starting to negotiate that, and we've heard from hamas that they're willing, apparently, to release all of the hostages in one go if israel withdraws from gaza. will prime minister netanyahu go for that? >> yeah. it's important to note that this is not a new hamas position. this is hamas has been saying this since last september, but the israeli side has rejected it. on the refusal to end the war. as long as hamas

is in power. there is no clear statement from hamas about who's going to control gaza afterwards. although the hamas leadership outside of gaza seems to understand that as long as hamas is in charge of gaza, there won't be a single dollar of reconstruction money that will enter gaza. so there is a dilemma here. the problem is that the young hamas fighters who have taken over gaza in the absence of political leadership there and now are holding on to their guns, making these hollywood production shows every week with the release of hostages, trying to convince the gaza public that they're still in charge and no one should rise up against them, which won't happen as long as there is no viable alternative there. so we're really kind of in this dilemma. how do you convince hamas that they need to clear the, the, the area in order for gaza to be rebuilt in order for the more than 2 million homeless gazans to get housing to an infrastructure to be rebuilt. while hamas is feeling strong now, empowered by these weekly shows that they've done over the

last six weeks. >> mhm. what about the role of the u.s. here? i mean, one expert last hour told me essentially it just comes down to president trump. if he wants netanyahu to take this to phase two, it will happen. if not, it's dead. is that too reductive? >> no, i think it's exactly the case. we saw this with phase one being done. president trump, before he entered the oval office three weeks before, told the israeli prime minister, get this deal done before i enter the white house. and it was done. while the deal had been on the table since may of last year, presented by president biden. nothing happened during that period. no real negotiations took place. but in the last three weeks prior to a trump entering the white house, netanyahu got the message and it was done. the same thing remains the case now with president trump to put the pressure on netanyahu and say, you have to end this war. we got to get it done. it will be done. but the problem is that we have president trump who has presented this a. fantasy and

fantasy plan of evacuating more than 2 million people from gaza, where no country is in the region or in the world are willing to take them. essentially, the ethnic cleansing of gaza and the diminishing of the palestinian right to self-determination. this is something which is unacceptable to the most of the world, especially to the arab world. um, and yet there is no alternative yet on the table. and here comes the role of the arab countries in the neighborhood to present a coherent plan to president trump. that's an alternative to his ethnic cleansing of gaza. plan. >> yeah, that's absolutely right. and just i want to highlight the shot that we're seeing right now, which is really interesting. we're seeing two very different crowds. if we could bring that split screen back up. one, uh, almost a celebratory crowd in gaza, as we saw the fighters, heavily armed fighters parading past them. and then on the other, a split screen hostage square in tel aviv, where those anxious, anxious faces are waiting for

any sign of those hostages that were expecting to be released. all right, gershon baskin, thank you so much. i really appreciate your expertise on this. and here at cnn newsroom, our breaking news coverage continues as two former hostages return to israel. so we'll have more on all of that coming up. plus, u.s. president donald trump is dismissing his top general in a friday night pentagon purge. cnn's military analyst will help us break it all down next. >> hi. i use for breeze fade defy plug. >> and i use this. >> for breeze has a microchip to control scent. release so it smells for stay fresh for 50 days. 50 days. and it's refill. reminder light means i'll never miss a day of freshness. >> for breeze. >> mornings. >> cough congestion. >> i'm feeling better all in. >> one and. >> done with mucinex kickstart. >> headaches better now. >> mucinex kickstart gives all in one and done relief with a

morning jolt of instant cooling sensation. it's comeback season. >> oh. >> land. >> yeah! why are you screaming? because you're screaming. are you hiding. >> from. >> used car shopping? >> yeah. >> what if i overpaid? i get it, nearly half of all used cars have been in an accident. but that's nothing to be afraid of. >> hmm. >> show me carfax. >> knowing how a car's accident history impacts price means, you don't have to overpay. >> way better. >> popcorn. >> definitely no fear. just fox. say, show me a car. >> got one more antoine. >> with usps ground advantage. just like you're with us every step of the way. >> cool. >> right on time.

>> stay in the know. >> from your dock to their door. >> lactaid is 100% real milk. just without the lactose. delicious, too. just ask my. >> old. >> friend kevin. nothing like. enjoying a cold one while watching the game. >> ah. >> who's winning? we are my friend. we are. >> at morgan stanley old school hard work meets bold new thinking to help you see untapped possibilities and relentlessly work with you to make them real. >> ever feel like a spectator in your own life with chronic migraine? 15 or more headache days a month, each lasting four. >> hours or more? >> botox prevents headaches in adults with chronic migraine. in a survey, 91% of users wish they'd started sooner, so why wait? talk to your doctor. >> botox effects. >> may spread. >> hours to weeks. >> after injection, causing serious symptoms. >> alert your doctor right away as trouble swallowing.

>> speaking. >> breathing. >> eye problems, or muscle weakness can be signs of a life threatening condition. those with these conditions before injection are at highest risk. side effects may include allergic reactions like rash, breathing problems, dizziness, neck and injection site pain and headache. don't receive botox if there's a skin infection. tell your doctor your medical history. muscle or nerve conditions like als, myasthenia gravis or lambert-eaton syndrome, and medicines like botulinum toxins, which may increase the risk of serious side effects. >> chronic migraine may still keep you from being there. ask your doctor about botox today. learn how abbvie can help you save. >> i always. >> wanted to know why i. >> am the way i am. my curiosity led me to ancestry. it was amazing to see all the traits that i've gotten from my mother in my dna. it's a family thing. it's a. >> family thing. >> hi. susan honey. >> yeah. >> i respect that, but that cough looks. >> pretty bad. >> try this. robitussin. honey. >> the real. >> honey you love.

>> plus the powerful. >> cough relief you need. >> mind if. >> i root through your trash? >> robitussin. >> the only brand with true source certified honey. >> oh. >> with flonase. >> allergies don't have. >> to be scary. >> spraying flonase daily gives you long lasting non-drowsy relief. flonase all good. >> i'm more on our top story. this is a live look at nuseirat camp gaza where we're waiting for a second hostage handover by hamas. want to bring in cnn chief diplomatic editor nic robertson, who is live in tel aviv. so, nic, as we await this hostage release, we don't know how many exactly will be released here, but we are learning that one of the four hostages due to be released will be handed over at a different location. so walk us through what we're seeing and what we're expecting here. >> yeah. hisham al-sayed has been held for ten years, went into gaza, walked in in 2015,

taken captive, held hostage by hamas ever since his wait for release has been so long. the hostages who were watching and waiting, looking at the space with their expected to walk into 505 days of captivity. the final phases, the final countdown, the last of the hours, the last of the minutes ticking by. right now, the red cross vehicles are in place. vehicles have come in that appear to be hamas. vehicles are under their escort that we would expect, and as we've seen from previous hostage releases, that's where the hostages will be inside of those vehicles. of course, the concern and that sort of expectation here, uh, is the condition that those hostages will be in the two hostages we saw released earlier, tal shoham and avera mengistu both looking thinner, both looking weak on their feet. but this is the process. the

propagandized process that hamas uses in this, in these handovers that's set to it. looking set to sort of be about to begin precisely when we just don't know. this is all in hamas's control. the longer the cameras remain on these locations for hamas, it reinforces to the population in gaza that they have control there. it reinforces to the israeli government that hamas is still a presence, is still able to control things and effects on the ground. they may not be able to rain missiles down on israel as they were before, but they are a presence, and that is a problem going forward for israel to get the other hostages released to get into the so-called phase two negotiations, to get to the permanent ceasefire, the fact that hamas is still present and has determined itself to be present in gaza in the future. and that's not the vision that prime minister benjamin netanyahu has. and that is one of the big thresholds to getting to a point of knowing when there

will be a next round of life hostages released. as far as we know, this is the last one that's agreed of live hostages to be released. that's part of phase one. so the stage, if you will, very much set waiting for hamas on their clock to step through the events here, right now inside of gaza. >> all right. and before i let you go, nick, as we await this release, presumably, of israeli hostages, just give me a sense of the mood there in tel aviv as you're in hostage square, we can see the pictures of all of those anxious faces who are who are just waiting for any news of these hostages. give me a sense of how people are feeling. there. >> you know, there are moments of elation. we heard rounds of clapping when we saw the two hostages earlier today. then there was a mengistu family on the big screen clapping, singing in jubilation that that had been

released. okay. and the crowd here was clapping. clapping, and the mood was up. but moments like this, it just feels a little bit more subdued. there are way more people here this week than last week. the sun is out now, but it wasn't before. way more people here this week and that that sort of subdued moment when the moment of truth, of the wellness of these hostages, 505 days, most of that time, we've heard from other hostages spent in tunnels, spent in dire conditions, spent short of food. some of them described not being able to wash for months at a time, sometimes by themselves, sometimes with only, you know, 1 or 2 of them there in the darkness. at times. i went in one of those tunnels a year ago at 20m down. when the lights go off, it is oppressive. it is hot, it is steamy. you can you just get that psychological feeling that the roof can cave in at any moment, that the sand can pour down on you? these men have been through that for 505

days. that sheer psychological pressure in of itself, not knowing if they would perhaps be bombed, not knowing if hamas would decide to execute them or do something else with them. all of those things they've been going through. so the idea that i think anyone here in this square right now can understand that they certainly empathize and feel for it, but nobody can really reckon with, um, the hell of their experience. over the past year and several months. >> yeah, absolutely. it's just such a harrowing moment for for them, for their families and all the israeli public as they watch here. you talked about the stage, i mean, literally being set. if the previous handovers are any precedent, we might see some of those hostages being paraded up on stage again, depending on their condition. and one thing i found interesting, i was listening to you earlier, and you were talking about how the hostages

who have been released already might have some insight into the condition of of some of the hostages who are still being held right now. take us through that. >> yeah, that's one of the really interesting things. if you can sort of pick apart this and make things interesting as opposed to just sort of dire and desperate for the hostages there, as more hostages have been released, there's more opportunity for the idf and therefore the families to maybe get snippets and just glimpses into the welfare of those that remain behind. they might have shared a tunnel with them. they might have shared being held in a building with them. they might have had a fleeting opportunity to exchange a couple of words, the details we don't really get to know. but what we do know is that the idf and the families in some cases, are able to build up something of a picture of their loved ones. and i was i was talking with the mother of edan alexander. he is the last living american hostage, still held 19 when he was taken hostage. 21

now, his mother told me and she said information she got back from other hostages who were released early towards the end of 2023, was that her son was trying to help the thai hostages, trying to get the trying to negotiate between them and hamas, to get to get the hostages released. he was a moment and a person of support for other hostages who came out and talked about it and said he was giving them hugs, and that gave his mother such a feeling of strength that he was that he was being strong, that he was bearing up under these conditions. and albeit that information was over a year old now, that gave her the sense that her son was being strong and, and therefore was going to have the best opportunity of getting through this terrible ordeal. but of course, she has trouble now because he's he's sort of deemed a phase two release. he there's no there's no schedule for that. there's no agreement for that. and that's something that she worries about. so she's strengthened and lifted by that knowledge of how

strong he's been. and that's from witness testimony of other hostages, but of course, uncertain about when she can actually see him again. >> yeah, just so hard for so many families who are watching this nic robertson stand by. we'll bring you back once we see more movement again with the the hostages expected to be returned here. uh, in the meantime, i want to bring in archie hellyer, who is senior associate fellow with the royal united services institute for defense and security studies. and he joins me from cairo. uh, thank you so much for being here with us again. uh, we've spoken through a couple of these hostage handovers. so far, despite all the problems. and certainly we have to highlight the the returning by hamas of the wrong remains. uh, all of those problems put put those aside. do these generally successful handovers, the fact

that we are progressing through this, does it does it generate any momentum towards that crucial phase two? do you think? >> uh. >> well. >> thank you very much for having me on the program. >> um. >> so i think that there's a quandary here, which is the momentum for getting to phase two. uh, depends entirely on. >> uh. >> both sides wanting to go to phase two. um, when you have the hostages being released, um, that is a crucial component. as to why, uh, the calculus in israel continues to be, uh, continuing with the ceasefire, hostage negotiations. right. but once they're. >> gone. >> once all of the hostages have been released, then that impetus, frankly disappears. um, and the concern that i think many have, and quite rightly, is

that as we get closer and closer to the end of phase one, we see a successful completion of phase one, but without, um, really much impetus for going towards phase two. um, and certainly not a lot of commitment to phase two when it comes to the israeli side, when it comes to hamas. hamas has a lot of interest in going forward with phase two, because going frankly, any other direction would be catastrophic for hamas. but when it comes to the israelis, the israelis have made it very clear, um, that they they see it as, uh, as quite likely that they will resume war. uh, trump made that very clear also yesterday, the day before yesterday, where, uh, he indicated that he thought that, you know, netanyahu was very close to just resuming, uh, the war and, crucially, did not say this would be against american interests or against the cease fire proposal. um, so there isn't that much

commitment to phase two actually coming into play anyway? >> it strikes me, as we are watching, uh, there in nuseirat as they, they, uh, erected that huge palestinian flag flying that there's so much propaganda value in these hostage releases that they've been doing sort of bit by bit. um, as well. i mean, it is hamas's leverage if they were to return all of the remaining hostages, as they've promised to do as part of phase two, where would that leave hamas? >> so i think that hamas is committed to doing so because they're committed to getting into phase two. phase two is where, uh, you have a much better situation for hamas. um, as opposed to returning to war. if war were resumed, then that's a much worse situation

for hamas. so they have the incentive, they have the impetus in that regard. um, but what? but again, once, uh, once all the hostages are released right now, there's public pressure in israel on the israeli government to not resume the war in order to get all the hostages back. but once all the hostages are back, then that pressure essentially evaporates. um, and you already have, uh, quite a number of forces in the on the israeli political spectrum within the cabinet, outside of the cabinet that are perfectly happy to go back to war. and also, uh, given, uh, president trump's, uh, idea of quote, unquote, a riviera plan, which, uh, was fully endorsed by the israeli government, um, which sees palestinians leaving gaza altogether and not being allowed to return. right. so ethnic cleansing, um, when you have that sort of element thrown into

the mix, then again, it just makes it very difficult to imagine that there's that much commitment to a phase two, uh, from the israeli side. and by american mediators. um, of course, if there were to be war resumed, then, uh, hamas hasn't been able to replenish, uh, its weaponry, its infrastructure, its personnel. yes. uh, but not not in terms of the sort of hardware that is needed, um, in order to carry out operations, um, and respond to israeli military prowess. >> all right. and i just want to highlight what we're seeing here, uh, pictures live from nuseirat. we're seeing those red cross workers, uh, as we seem, uh, possibly moments away from what we expect will be the release of several israeli hostages. >> i think literally moments away right there. >> i'm sorry. >> i think very few moments. yes. red cross getting on the

stage. >> yeah. there's there's a certain, uh, choreographed predictability about these, uh, these moments here. um, and, and this is certainly part of it as we see the red cross, uh, worker with their binder, and they'll be signing some documents and then, uh, hopefully moments from now, we'll be seeing those hostages. we don't know what condition. of course they'll be in once they're released. um, as we wait for that moment, though, i did want to ask you about the the larger picture here because you mentioned, uh, president trump and his so-called riviera plan. um, arab leaders were gathering yesterday in saudi arabia. they met and discussed a plan for gaza. now, uh, this plan will sort of unfold in steps with another meeting that's going to come, i think, at the end of the month. but presumably their plan obviously would be in sharp contrast to what we've heard from from president trump. >> absolutely. um, but i think that there's a big problem here. so the, uh, the plan, uh, or

plans that are being discussed by these arab states, they're really about phase three. and thereafter. okay. um, there is no phase three if phase two does not take place. and phase two, of course, is where israeli forces on the ground, uh, would leave gaza altogether. it would mean the end of the occupation. um, the gaza strip has been occupied since 1967 uninterrupted. and the occupying power is the state of israel. that would continue to be the case in phase two. but troops on the ground would be, uh, evacuated from gaza. um, if they go by the terms of the ceasefire, uh, outlined, that was agreed, uh, about a month or so ago. um, i just don't see how that's incredibly likely, especially given all of the rhetoric that we've seen over the last couple of weeks. um, the reality is, is that there's

a lot of, uh, of pressure on netanyahu to return to war. um, and at the same time, there's a lot of pressure to get the hostages out. um, so one possible scenario is that they don't go to phase two. that phase one essentially expires in reality, but they claim that they will extend phase one with more hostage releases. um, that's one scenario. i'm not saying that's been agreed, but that's one scenario. it's certainly, um, the option that has been proposed by the israeli side. um, you've seen that in the israeli press. um, but it wouldn't be going on to phase two. phase two would require certain signals from the israelis in terms of negotiations and the teams that have been sent to begin those discussions don't really have the same mandate that they would require in order to actually seriously get into phase two. again, all of this is is in the israeli press. um, and there's no secret made of this. um, but

again, we have to wait and see what's going to happen over the next few days. um, the next few days, i think are really crucial because that's when, um, phase one is supposed to expire in about a week. um, and we still don't have clarity about the details of phase two or any serious negotiations that have taken place on phase two. so we could be days away from the resumption of the war on gaza. >> yeah, a very crucial next few days. exactly as you say. h.a. hellyer, uh, we appreciate your analysis. um, thank you so much for speaking to us from cairo. i want to go back to cnn chief diplomatic editor nic robertson, who is live in tel aviv. so, nic, um, as we await this, what we presume is a handover of israeli hostages here in gaza, certain things seem a little bit different than from what we've seen previously. what are you

seeing here? >> well, we've seen the sort of multiple different locations for release today, and we're not sure why that is. and perhaps it speaks to where the different men were being held captive, but it also speaks to hamas's ability to show itself and portray itself to have centers of gravity and control, both in rafah, where the early handoff was nazareth today, last week it was in, uh, kerem. it was it was further south in inside of gaza. so they choose different locations. that's the signaling, i guess, that they have the ability to be present and enforce in different parts of gaza. so that would be a message to the local population there, and of course, to israeli authorities. but what we're witnessing here today is important, i think, for people, for all the reasons you have been discussing, but principal among them, this is the last scheduled live hostage release. the next one is going to be much

harder to organize. and and we're not at that point yet where that's been anywhere near close locked into even sort of the parameters of it. agreed. so this is an important day for israelis seeing these hostages released. it's bringing towards the end the last, last live hostages to be released to the phase one part of the deal. it's held together. perhaps better than anyone had expected. the next part is unclear, but the performance, if you will, of the propaganda that hamas puts in place on days like today for these handovers, seems to be potentially even more drawn out. and there you're beginning to see listen to the crowd, listen to the crowd. that's. been that's the first of the hostages they're seeing. there they go. there they go. eliya cohen there on stage. good for

nick. >> what can. >> you looking before the pictures of him before he was taken into captivity? he's lost a lot of weight. >> and, nick, i just want to bring attention to our viewers as we see eliya cohen there on stage. the other side of our screen is his family, who have been waiting for this moment. they're all dressed in white, uh, shaking hands, smiling, still looking very somber as you can imagine, seeing the condition of their loved one that they haven't seen for so long. and we're seeing another hostage there walking up as we, uh, as we show you these pictures, like. >> nick omer shem tov. >> yeah. and what can you tell us about this? these two who are being released right now. >> so we're just seeing omar. omar omer shem tov being brought to the stage. uh, on the screen we have here that the crowd

behind me are watching. they have a split screen here of the before and after, if you will. they're seeing the live hostage release and the image omer shem tov the image of the hostage before taken into captivity. and it's a marked contrast, as you would expect. uh, both these men, young men, um. al cohen, uh, 27 years old. uh omer shem tov. 22 years old. both seem to be, you know, they're they're in decent physical shape, but they clearly lost a lot of weight. uh. and this looks like omer wenkert. omer wenkert getting taken on the stage now. yeah, but he's looking a little weak. he's looking a little weak there. he's being shaken around, uh, by the guards. yeah, yeah. if you look at images of him, uh, before he was taken into

captivity, he's lost a significant amount of weight. >> um. >> and they're also being given these uniforms to wear. of course. you know, we were talking there about the first up on the stage, ali cohen. um, 505 days of this experience about to be released as he was separated from his fiancee, who he went to the nova music festival with, who's waiting for him right now in campaign to help get him released. ziz had been there with him. she'd taken her nephew and the nephew's girlfriend. the nephew and the girlfriend were shot and killed. zev survived. the only reason she survived was because she hid under the bodies of her nephew and his girlfriend. yeah, that's the chaos that that that that, uh, elliot left behind. >> and you can see the emotion on the family's there. we're showing a split screen again. just sheer delirium and relief

from eliya cohen family as they're seeing those pictures, uh, as the the family as their loved ones waved to the crowd. such an emotional moment for these families that have been waiting so, so long. nick. >> thank you. >> uh, the wait has been has been terrible. and speaking to the mother of the last remaining american living hostage in gaza right now, with no schedule for his release, dan alexander, speaking to his mother. um, you get a sense of what they're going through. i mean, they love moments like this today because it's uplifting, because they want all the hostages to be freed. they feel for all the hostages. they live the same drama, they live the same hurt. they live the same living nightmare that all those families go through. talking to her was an eye opener on that. and what those families have been going through and the last minutes, the last minutes until they see their loved ones, um.

and it is the worst of the minutes in a way. they know that they're going to happen, but they don't know what they're going to see. they don't know what they're going to see and hear. they see their living loved one, and that's enough. he might have lost weight. he might look frail. he might be under duress. but he's there and alive, and they know they're going to be with him soon. >> yeah. exactly. right. and, uh, you are right to talk about their frail condition. and we showed our viewers the, the before pictures where their, their faces looked completely different. uh, so full happy. uh, now emaciated. but on the positive side, at least they are able to walk under their own power. there have been a lot of concern about their physical condition and omer wenkert was reportedly in poor health and and needed medication. so the fact that he is there at least up on stage and able to walk, perhaps assisted, but is able to

walk such welcome relief for his family. we're seeing three of the israeli hostages who have been released, still to be released at a different location is hisham al-sayed nick. what more do we know about that? >> yeah, he's been held for about ten years now. he walked into gaza 2015. not quite clear why. taken captive, taken hostage by hamas. um, he has been very, very ill during his captivity. it there was a video released at one time where he was pleading for release, and he was in terrible health. cheers. going up here in hostages square, as people are looking at the video of eliya cohen family here, just elated. sharing, sharing that pleasure, sharing, sharing that moment. look, it's so difficult to to put into words, uh, what israelis have

gone through since october 7th and the desperate feeling they have and the want for all the hostages to be back. so when when people here who don't, who don't have a family member who's held hostage, they probably know somebody and a family who does, but they see this, they see a family celebrating. it really lifts everyone's spirits because these are these are still dark days. there are still a lot of hostages that are held dead and alive. there's still an uncertainty about the future here. um, so these these moments are big, big moments. and that's why you you see the crowd here responding so positively when they see the families of these hostages just getting a little joy. look, those guys have been underground, wherever, for 505 days. these families have been going through their own hell for that time, too. they didn't know this day was going to come every moment trying to push for the release, pleading with president donald trump, pleading with prime minister benjamin netanyahu on the streets of tel

aviv in a big gathering that we've seen every saturday night ever since then, on the streets so many other times as well, pleading and pushing their case, keeping the spirit, the memory of their loved ones alive so that they're not forgotten, so that they are at the forefront of politicians minds so that they can't just be lost in the, you know, within a war, keep them alive, keep their spirit alive, keep their potential release alive. now it's happened, now they're realizing it. now you see them celebrating. >> yeah. this is a very extended photo op that we're seeing with all of those, uh, hostages being released, a very long appearance up on the stage. and now, uh, presumably being being photographed here as well before they're being taken to those red cross vehicles that will take them. >> you know, we don't know why hamas has drawn this one out so much. but when the cameras are pointed on them there, this is

the only moment they get for the israeli public to see hamas, to see their strength. what goes on in gaza, we see on our tv screens at cnn and around the world all the time, not so much in israel. the israeli public does not get to see what happens in gaza. so much. hamas knows that this moment, as long as they draw out this process, then all israeli eyes are on them. their presents, their arms, their weapons, their uniforms, their ability to control and dominate the situation on the ground. that's the message they want to project. it's their propaganda. they extend the moment, and that's what they're trying to do. that appears to be what they're trying to do. and certainly they're aware that another moment like this may not come around for some time. >> yeah, that's exactly right. and as you said before, this is presumably the last release of live israeli hostages. before we get to that phase two. so they

are certainly, uh, milking every moment of this for propaganda purposes. as you point out the other side of this equation, as we're seeing those israeli hostages being taken to those red cross vehicles, is the palestinian side 600 or so palestinian prisoners to be released? what do we know about that? >> i didn't lose it. they just didn't. it just went away. i just did. >> i think we might have lost nic robertson there, as we're seeing, uh, yet another one of those israeli hostages being taken and photographed again by those, uh, hamas photographers for propaganda purposes. nic, if you're back, i just wanted to get your, uh, your take on on the other side of this equation, which was the the release of some 600 palestinian prisoners. >> jimmy. >> yeah, yeah, sorry about that. we had a trouble with the

communications. yeah. this is these releases that we're witnessing here right now are part of an agreement. and the other side of that agreement is that today, 602 palestinians are being released, 445 of them, uh, rounded up, detained from gaza since october the 7th. so 445 men from gaza, we can expect to be bused in, uh, released inside of gaza, much to the jubilation of their families. the hugs, as we saw last week, complaints against the israeli authorities of mistreatment is what we heard last week. the israeli authorities say that doesn't happen, but but many of the people getting off of those busses are absolutely attested to the conditions, the bad conditions they said they were held in, um, many of them taking off the prison shirts they were given and ceremonially burning them. so 445 detained in gaza being released in gaza today, as well as 50 life term prisoners,

palestinian prisoners in israeli jails, serving life terms for murder, 60 serving long sentences also being released today, and 47 other palestinians who were released back in a prisoner exchange deal in 2011, where 1000 israeli uh 1000 palestinian prisoners were released for the israeli soldier gilad shalit, who had been held hostage for five years. some of those subsequently arrested. they 47 of them are being released again for a second time for them again today. so a big number of palestinians being released. and that also covers, if you will, if you put it in those terms, the return of the four bodies of of the bibas family, uh, and, and, and the other gentleman held with them returned just a couple of days ago. >> nick, as we see those red cross vehicles now. uh, driving

off, um, we're seeing at least a fairly wide corridor, the large public who are celebrating there in gaza are being kept away from those vehicles, at least in our shot. now, that may change, but certainly hamas seems to have better control of the crowds than they have in some of the previous handovers. and we've we've heard both from israel and from the red cross saying that the crowds sort of crowding those vehicles has not only just intimidating the released hostages, but also possibly endangering their safety. it seems to be a bit of a different scene here, although we now the shot, we can't see what's what's happening off frame. of course. >> probably. >> you know, we've talked earlier today about the sequencing of the handovers, and we were talking just before about the 602 palestinians to be handed over. we haven't seen images of those handovers so

far. it doesn't mean they haven't happened. um, but in terms of the phasing that we've seen in previous weeks, uh, it seems that the hostages, the israeli hostages get released. and when they are out and safely out, that's when we see the palestinian prisoners, or at least the video and still images of their release happening. that could be part of the sequencing. and of course, if that were the sequencing, then that mitigates about anything bad happening to stop those red cross vehicles getting out of gaza. we haven't seen that on the seven previous releases. but of course, that concern is, is a is an alive concern at any time like this. those red cross vehicles should very soon be meeting up with with idf vehicles for the handover to the idf. >> um, and then they'll be taken to the same military base. they'll be examined there. they'll see their family for the first time, and then they'll be flown to different hospitals,

perhaps in tel aviv. again, if you've just joining us, we've just seen the release of three israeli hostages. eliya cohen, omer shem tov and omer wenkert. uh, nick, stand by. i want to bring in now. uh, miri eisin, senior fellow with the international institute for counter-terrorism. and she retired from active duty from the israel defense forces at the rank of colonel. um, mary, thank you so much for being here with us. really appreciate it. uh, as we've we've done a couple of these, uh, hostage releases, you and i, we saw, um, kisses, air kisses, waves, thumbs up from the three released israeli hostages. they looked frail but able to stand your impressions as you were watching. along with this very emotional moment. >> i'm at. >> the stage, kim, of looking at

the terror of theatrics is is just almost too much for me. i look at these different things and i think, what have they done to these people inside the places that they were held that after over 500 days, i want to say a year and four months just they were taken from a party, they were taken from their homes. these three men and just, you know, that i hope that what they're doing is because they're freed and not because of just the horrible terror tactics of hamas. look at how they stage it. i want to remind everybody, kim, that they're not showing hamas the release of an additional israeli hostage who has been held for ten years. we don't talk about that. why is he not being shown? because he is an arab citizen of israel. so what is hamas trying to say yet again, this is about the jews. this is about all israelis. they took somebody and have held them for ten years. and that one, they're not showing right now. they're as if doing that

quietly. and i need to shout that out as well. um, we also saw earlier before you showed it also the release of another israeli, ethiopian, israeli, very israeli, very jewish, who was held also for ten years. why were they held there? why don't we hear about that? these are all hostages. and so i'm grateful that they're home. but i'm just appalled yet again by the theatrics of hamas. >> yeah. and just for our viewers, we're showing a split screen there of nuseirat gaza, where we saw the release of those hostages. and then on the other side there, the celebratory scenes that is eliya cohen family, who we we showed moments ago breaking into tears and celebrating as they finally saw their loved one, elia, after some 500 days of captivity, emerge on the screen and waving to, uh, to the cameras and presumably through that to their loved ones who just can't wait

to see them. uh, miri, we saw two other people released earlier. this seems to have gone according to plan, although it was late. there are always problems with these things, as you know. um, we are slowly going towards now the end of this phase. this was presumably the last release of live israeli hostages. so let's pivot now to phase two and this crucial phase. do you think we will actually get there? >> there are over two dozen israeli who are still alive and hostages who were also taken on october 7th. and in that sense, it isn't that phase one was ending the what hamas had done from the beginning. hamas took 256 people from the beginning. they took both live and dead. and to be clear to all the viewers in the stage two, the

only difference is the hamas difference that they defined, the ones that they're still holding, the live ones that they're still holding as israeli soldiers, so that they want the price to be even higher. we're talking again about those terror tactics. i do not see any scenario where israel says we're not going to do anything. we need to get back, not just the live ones, but also when i say the dead ones, both those that were killed in captivity and are being held, but also bodies that hamas took on october 7th, again as collateral, as a bargaining chip. this is what we're dealing with. and at this stage it's going to be much harsher. hamas have already put out what they say are their conditions. they've done so throughout the last 500, and i've lost my sense of time 515 days. how many days have we had at this stage along the way? and when we talk about that, um, do we have a choice? well, i always have a choice. let's impact and make sure that

hamas give them back. could there be other ways to pressure hamas? there are continuously both arab states, the different ones who are negotiating along the way. both egypt and qatar. you want to hope that hamas is not the one who is defining the rules of the game in any way. that is not good for anybody. >> so that's the hamas side of the equation. but there's the israeli side as well, and there's certainly questions as to whether prime minister netanyahu would accede to the stipulated terms, or at least what we expect to be the terms in terms of, uh, israel withdrawing from gaza as part of phase two. uh, do you think that he will do that? >> yeah. so one of those things, when i think of the country that i live in and i love and that right now, that love hate relationship with our own government, i know caine based here in the united states, um,

it can seem also sometimes that when you have a government that doesn't represent who you are, um, i don't think this government represents me as mary, but right now, this is the government who is there. and i, as a citizen, hold them responsible. and this government is going to be held responsible for every single lost hostage, lost hostage. in addition, they are also, in that sense, looking at their own base. they're looking at the own people who vote for them at the end. inside israel, the bulk of israelis, 70% need to have the hostages back. i don't think i have a lot in common with 30% of israelis who say that the hostages are less important. i don't agree with them, and i want to hope that this government that that 30% or certainly their base will listen to all israelis, that we all need them back. we're drafted into the military and mandatory service. this government needs to know that when it negotiates, it wants the soldiers to be drafted, that they want us to

all support them, that we need to both defend ourselves against horrific hamas. as i said, let's emphasize hamas is the one who did this. hamas is the one who's playing a game. and i do hope that in the price that we are going to have to pay, it is one that i will pay to get back those hostages. despite what this government might think. >> well, we only have about 30s left. but i did want to ask you this, because the other big player in this, of course, is the u.s. president. and what would be your message to president trump who could presumably exert much more pressure on prime minister benjamin netanyahu to get a deal done? >> i like that, and kim, i want him to do so. but parallel. i want everybody to remember this isn't israel, this is hamas. so please, president trump, find a way to also exert pressure on hamas via qatar, via egypt in other ways, not just pressuring

israel. we're the ones who at the end are both attacked, and we are the ones being held hostage. >> all right, listen, always appreciate your excellent analysis, mary. uh, thank you so much for being here with us as we are watching, um, what is a. heartwarming and also heartbreaking moment all at once as we see these israeli hostages being released. we'll leave you with a picture of hostage square in tel aviv. as so many people were celebrating the release of those hostages here today. that wraps this hour of cnn newsroom. thanks for sharing it with me. i'm kim brunhuber cnn this morning is next. >> nexium 24 hour prevents heartburn acid for twice as long as pepcid. get all day and all night heartburn acid prevention with just one pill a day. choose acid prevention. choose nexium.

here's to. >> getting better. >> with age. >> here's to being. >> to every thursday. help fuel today with. >> boost high. >> protein complete nutrition. >> you need. >> and the flavor. >> you love. >> so here's to now. now available boost max. >> when you're the official vehicles of. >> winter. >> you can embrace. >> everything the. >> cold has. >> to offer. >> leave fresh tracks with the safe and secure jeep grand cherokee melt limitations. with our most capable jeep wrangler ever, or battle the elements and win in the jeep gladiator. hurry into the jeep president's day sales event before these incredible offers slip away. >> during the jeep president's. >> day sales event. >> get 10% below msrp for an average of $5,700 under msrp on these 2024 jeep wrangler models. see your local jeep brand dealer. >> today i brought. >> in. >> ensure max protein. >> with 30g. >> of protein. >> those who tried me felt more energy in just. >> two weeks. >> here, i'll take. >> that. >> ensure. >> max protein, 30g protein, one gram sugar and a protein blend

to feed muscles up to seven hours. >> got one more antoine. >> with usps ground advantage. just like you're with us every step of the way. >> cool. i want to. >> stay in. >> the note from your doc to their door. >> with the vision to see what's possible and the grit to make it happen. morgan stanley. can help create the future. only you can see. >> it's the news. >> welcome back. but it's. >> also kind of not the news.

with purchase of pillow for pain. call 1-800-530-2299. >> that's one.