our own clarissa ward has spoke on the the father of emily hand.s is his first interview since his little girl was let go, leading to that hug you're watching now after nearly 50 days in captivity. he was originally told, you'll remember, emily was killed during the october 7th terror attacks. clarissa is standing by to bring that to us. >> this comes as we are watching and waiting for hamas to release ten more hostages today after the temporary truce with israel was extended for two more days. a fourth round of hamas captives was released late yesterday. and that includes a mother and her 3-year-old twin daughters. their father, though, still being held hostage. >>> take a look at this new video, that's 12-year-old, getting a big, emotional hug from his mom as they finally reunited last night. there are a lot of big developments this morning. but we want to go straight to cnn chief international correspondent clarissa ward. clarissa, you just spoke to thomas hand, the father of emily hand. you have been following this store fri day one. what did h

i think we may have los angeles our connection with clarissa. we're gog ing to try to reconne with her as well. aware watching major fw developments unfolding. i'm going to make sure we have everybody connected and kwwe're going to continue our special coverage. including what qatari are officials are saying. they're insisting everything is back on track with the hostage release process. let's hope that happens after the unexpected delay by hamas. our breaking news coverage will continue right after this. >>> welcome back. we're continuing to follow the breaking news right now. the idf now saying the red cross says the hostages are on their way to the rafah border krogkr crossing. i want to bring in amir, the diplomatic correspondent for the newspaper here in israel. he survived the october 7th attack on the kibbutz. amir, thank you so much for joining us. i know you survived because we talked about this after some ten hours under attack. what is it like to see some of the hostages now being released nearly 50 days later? >> hi, wolf, thank you

clarissa, what is happening on the ground right now? >> reporter: so, the second helicopter, pamela, has just landed here on the heli pad behind the schneider children's medical center. the first helicopter, when it landed, we saw them construct a, kind of, screen. and we're seeing that again. they're putting that up. that, of course, is to protect the privacy of the people who are on board, those hostages, now freed hostages. you can see in the background some well wishers have been waiting for some time to be able to welcome them, hanging israeli flags. we've heard them clapping and cheering. and now it's actually remarkably quiet are with the sound of the blades of the helicopter now turned off. and that moment, as those hostages, who have been through such an extraordinary ordeal, pamela, for more than seven weeks, are now finally arriving home. and here at the medical -- the schneider medical center for children, a huge amount of care and effort has gone into doing everything possible to be as sensitive and as thoughtful to the, so

clarissa ward, kaitlan collins, a very long day. kaitlan, we're looking forward to seeing you on the top of the hour. to underscore this delay, it can't be easy for the families of the hostages. take a lock. these are the parents of our next guest, going out for their morning walk on kibbutz nir oz. both were shot and wounded just moments later. the ambulance that might have responded could not reach them because hamas gunmen had shot out the tires. iris joins us now. iris, thank you so much for joining us. your reaction when you heard there will be no hostages released until at least friday now? >> to be honest, you know, same as many, many families. i'll believe it when i see it. that's how i'm reacting right now, even when the whole deal, you know, was popping in the media and stuff. i was -- i always told everybody, listen, this is not the first deal i've heard about. i'll believe it when i see it. of course my heart is pumping. i'm waiting. you know, i heard these rumors about three american citizens being released. but i didn'

let's go live now to clarissa ward who is there for us. walk us through what you're seeing and what we're expecting to see in just moments. >> reporter: right. so what you should be seeing now, just coming towards the helipad at the schneider children's medical center. you could see the helicopter in the air. we know about 20 minutes ago the first two helicopters departed from the air base followed by another two helicopters. now, i should stress that at this stage we can't be 100% sure that that helicopter is coming here to the schneider children's medical center. but we certainly are seeing a significant increase in the activity around that helipad. there are other hospitals as well. some in tel aviv and around the country where some of the hostages may be taken. but certainly here, at schneider, they are expecting some of the children to be brought as well as mothers who are with their children. we know that ahad munder, who marked his 9th birthday in captivity, is among those hostages and his mother karen. we know that 4-year-old raz a

clarissa, thank you very much for that excellent reporting. clarissa ward reporting.ore on the hostage deal in the israel-hamas war, let me first get your reaction to the hostage deal being at least delayed temporarily. are you concerned that this deal could fall apart? >> hi, wolf. we should all be concerned that this deal could fall apart at any moment. the state craft required to get here has been some of the toughest in modern memory and it's a testament to the courage and conviction of the families of the hostages with whom i've met and i've been so moved by their pain and by their hope. it's a testament to joe biden's skilled state craft and also his wisdom in resisting these misguided calls for a ceasefire because if he had ceded to those calls and put frpressure on isrl to declare a ceasefire, there would have been no leverage to get all of them home. >> are you satisfied, congressman, with this particular hostage deal and do you have any concerns that hamas will use this upcoming pause to gather their strength to further attack and kill people in israel. >> w

cnn's clarissa ward is outside of the hospital. we've been anticipating the arrival of these hostages to show up. do -- have we con internationaled that these are -- confirm that these are, indeed, the hostages that we were expecting? >> reporter: yes, yes, hi. so as you can see right now, we've just seen several trucks or i should say vans containing the hostages. they are now pulling up, you can see that screen has been pulled behind. they are disembarking the first van. the second van is waiting. they're part of a larger convoy of vehicles, but it appears that there's just the two vans that contain the 12 newly freed hostages, among them seven children, at least one also 18-year-old, and a number of adults. some of them family members. and actually having said that, there appears to be a third van now pulling up, as well. you can see the windows are tinted, there's been a lot of effort to try to preserve the privacy of these families as they arrive here at the hospital. it is after 3:30 in the morning. they have been through a t

clarissa, any new activity at the hospital, and it is a lengthy process as we are seeing the hostages making their way eventually to israel, and what are you seeing at the hospital right now? >> so, behind me, and i don't know if you can see it, but there are some flashing lights, and that is the hospital's helipad, and we have seen a number of ambulances sort of parking up alongside that helipad, and again, we don't know if that is where the hostages would arrive, but the assumption is that the children who are released, and if they are with their mothers, and their mothers are in reasonable physical condition, they will be brought here to the schneider children's hospital, and if they need more extensive care, they will be taken to another hospital. but here at this hospital, they have gone to great pains, kaitlan, to make sure they have done the best job they can to prepare for the arrival of the hostages. they have taken over an entire area of of the hospital, and really gone to lengths to make sure it does not look like a hospital. they want to create what one staff member said a

he told clarissa ward that death was a far better fate than being held hostage by hamas. almost a month later, that father has been told his daughter may be alive and a hostage. the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. >>> it is already november 7th in israel and gaza, and a few hours from now will mark one month since hamas gunmen executed more than 1,400 men, women, and children and kidnapped more than 240 people. this is gaza just a short time ago, flares in the night sky along with explosions that could be heard from our cnn ground team along the border. israel's military says it has now encircled gaza city, which it called the, quote, fortress of hamas activities. prime minister benjamin netanyahu says israel will have security for gaza after the w

clarissa ward is outside the sheba hospital in tel aviv.re is still a period of waiting as these hostages will be evaluated by doctors. the ultimate goal, obviously, to be reunite with their families. what's the latest you're seeing from the hospital tonight? >> reporter: so there's definitely a sense of great anticipation at the moment. we've been told that we could be expecting some of those newly released hostages to arrive here at the sheba medical center any moment. now there is a large build-up. you can probably see behind me of security personnel. and i don't know if we can pan over. you can see this is where the blankets will, where the ambulance will drive in. you can probably see they've put up a large screen. that screen is designed to offer some privacy to the hostages who will be arriving here. we understand there are at least seven children among the hostages. one 18-year-old, as well as five adults. we don't know exactly how many will be brought here, although it is our understanding that most of the children will certainly b

clarissa, thank you very much. clarissa ward reporting. >>> right now let's get the latest on the palestinian prisoners who were released today. cnn's nada bashir joining us from jerusalem. she's got details. how is this being received from the west bank, nada? you've been checking in on all of this. >> reporter: we have indeed, wolf. and we have seen today in the occupied west bank thousands of people gathering around these centers where these palestinian prisoners have been returned to, released, and reunited with their family members. we saw so many people gather in the streets today celebrating that release. it certainly is a welcome step, but we also have been hearing from some on the ground including them faally members of some of those released who told us for them this isn't a moment where they can be totally happy because of what they have seen unfold in the gaza strip. but nevertheless, this has been seen as a welcome step. and of course this is the first batch of prisoners set to be released over the nex

cnn's clarissa ward joins us from the children's hospital where some of these hostages were taken after their release, and clarissa, there was some really dramatic scenes there yesterday as the hospital was going to great lengths to protect the privacy of these children, and we know more children are expected to be released as a part of this group today. what can you tell us about what you've seen? >> reporter: so, from what we gather from the hospital staff, kaitlan, all of the hostages who arrived here last night are in reasonably good physical shape. they are still here, so one can only assume that they're undergoing a number of checks, and we know that the hospital had hand picked some of the top psychiatrists and particularly psychiatrists with direct knowledge of dealing with trauma to assess them, but also to support them. this is a very, very difficult transition for the children, for their families, but it has been really powerful and really, frankly, extraordinary just to see those scenes while there's been a lot of attention paid to trying to really respect the privacy of the

clarissa ward, thank you.coming up, a behind the scenes account of republicans enabling the former president in the aftermath of the 2020 election, in the lead up to the capitol attack. cnn has exclusively obtained a copy of former republican congressman woman liz cheney's new, oath and honor. details, next. >>> the power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. and that's a good thing? great in my book! who are you? no power? no problem. introducing storm-ready wifi. now you can stay reliably connected through power outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery back-up to keep you online. only from xfinity. home of the xfinity 10g network. tonight, cnn has exclusively obtained a firsthand account of the behind the scenes efforts to overturn the 2020 election. and, a detailed description of the insurrection from the inside of congress. it's laid out in former publican congresswoman liz cheney's new book, oath and honor. cnn -- 's got the book ahead of its release next week she, j

clarissa ward at that hospital. we'll continue to check in with you as that activity is picking up there on the ground. and you see as clarissa is saying, so many of these hostages are just learning the full scope of what happened on october 7th. i spoke to one's family earlier. she did not know. they had buried her husband of 52 years in these several weeks that she was being held hostage in gaza. that was part of the news. they were they were trying to break everything to her slowly because it is so overwhelming for someone who just has spent seven weeks underground in gaza. >> and you know how incredibly emotional and difficult some of these reunions will be. and i keep trying to put myself in the place of thomas hand and what that will be like when he sees little emily again. we remember that searing interview that clarissa did with him when he thought that she had died. he learned that she was still alive and hopefully freed and that moment has come. i cannot imagine a happier moment for a father with you so em

kaitlan. >> yeah, clarissa ward, thank you. poppy, it's kind of hard to overstate what this moment means in israel. everywhere you go, the flyers of the hostages are -- there they are. it's on restaurants. it's on the back of cabs. people are wearing it on their shirts saying "bring them home." the idea within the next hour you could potentially see 13 of these hostages finally brought home back to israel reunited with their families carries great significance, obviously, here. >> absolutely does. kaitlan, thank you. within the next hour, we expect to see the first 13 hostages as kaitlan said released, part of the four-day truce agreement between israel and hamas. they will be women and children and according to the israeli government those families have been notified of their loved ones pending release. for our next guest, the painful wait will continue. the parents of 23-year-old israeli american hersh. witnesses say he was taking cover in a bomb shelter at the music festival when hamas gunmen began throwing grenades inside.

clarissa ward, thank you. >>> and of course that is just the beginning of this.srael has now confirmed the identity of these 13 citizens that were released today. obviously children among them. they are all women and children. they were held for nearly seven weeks. yafa ader is 85 years old. she was the oldest person to be taken hostage on october 7th. she lived on kibbutz nir oz, along with 11 other hostages that were also released today. that kibbutz saw some of the most severe damage on that day. a fourth of its residents were kidnapped or killed. margalit mozes is a 77-year-old mother of three, grandmother of ten. she's a cancer survivor who has diabetes. 75-year-old hannah perry, a diabetic and a mother of three. one of her children was murdered on october 7th. another tonight is still being held by hamas. some of the youngest hostages were also among those who were freed today. as you heard clarissa mention there, 9-year-old ahad monder, who celebrated his birthday last month in captivity. he and his mother and grandmother were released today. his grandfath

clarissa, what stages of the process are these hostages in right now? what are you learning? >> reporter: well, wolf, everybody here very much anxiously arriving -- awaiting the arrival of some of those potential hostages. they're expecting children and particularly those children who might be traveling with their parents as well such as emilia, her mother daniel. and i'll step outside of the shot so you can see as we push into the helipad behind me. we have seen a lot of activity at that helipad over the past couple of hours. we have seen a number of ambulances parked out, we have seen a lot of paramedics there, people on their phones, some security personnel and a sense of heightened activity as we await the potential arrival of some of those now freed hostages. there is obviously been a huge amount of thought and consideration that has gone into how exactly the hospital should be preparing to greet them. they have taken an area of the hospital and tried to ensure that it no longer looks like a hospital, wolf. they have tried to fill it with toys to make it warm, to make it

that's where clarissa ward has been. four of the hostages we leased today, the ages are 9, 6, 4 and 2. a 2-year-old, who has been held hostage for 48 days. obviously, public opinion inside israel, they put a lot of pressure on the israeli government to work for a hostage release. at this point, is the public pressure pointing toward we want a full hostage release? we'll continue to pressure the government to pause the fighting until they are all out war, do you think the public opinion at some point will be saided by 100, if that's what it comes to? >> i think for the families of those who have been take, they want every single one back. but of course, israel is somewhat divided politically. there are the extreme elements of the government and the people they represent, who think that this is just empowering terrorists. they will want to resume the fighting. he has to make sure that wing is willing to prosecute this war. in the meantime, the tough part that's going to happen for the hostages now is once they feel calm an

they have to be brought back. >> clarissa joins us now from tel aviv.ean what just a nightmare they've been through. did emily or his father talk about what the conditions were like for her in gaza? >> basically he doesn't really know the full picture yet because emily has struggled literally still to speak in terms of speak in whispers. her voice is getting stronger, but it's stale very faint. and i think she's frightened frankly to relive or think about or process what she's been through. and he said he's spoken to psychiatrists who say, listen, you have to wait, you have to let her do it in her own time. but certainly it's a different picture to what he expected. she was not being held underground in these tunnels. she was being held in mouses. she was moved from house to house as the fighting and bombardment would get near. one small mercy, anderson, she was held with her close friend hila, and hila's mother, rya, and she reportedly treated her like her own daughter. and the heart break two day before their sudden release all of a sudden inexplicabl

. >> cnn's clarissa bastian joins us now live from london. good morning, claire.israel approved a hostage deal, now the hostage release in temporary truce with hamas won't happen until friday. so, what is behind this delay? what happens next? >> rosemary, it seems to be more about execution and logistics than the core of the deal itself, which as we know has been approved by the israeli cabinet. now, obviously, we're hearing from not only israeli officials but the white house as well, the white house national security spokesperson saying that this is about ironing out final logistical details, delaying one day was in effect to minimize the chance of something going wrong. i think that's a measure of just how delicate and how hard one disagreement is, as for what happens next? we're hearing this morning from a diplomatic source in qatar and that qatar is expected to announce in the next few hours when the truce between israel and hamas will begin. as you know that was also delayed. it was expected to start this morning. the earlier it would start would be midnight

i want to go to cnn's clarissa ward right now, over at the hospital in tel aviv, the largest hospital in israel, and they're getting ready to receive some of these newly freed hostages, right, clarissa? >> that's right. and hospital officials tell us they have been doing drills to prepare for this moment for over a month now. they said they went through many different possible scenarios. they wanted to be sure that however this happened that they would be ready. they have created an entire area for the hostages and family members who will be arriving here later tonight. they have ensured that they have the best staff, the most appropriate staff, specialists in trauma. psychiatrists, each family will have their own social worker, doctor, nurse, dedicated to them around the clock. there had been a moment, wolf, of some anxiety in the last few hours when it appeared that potentially this deal could be delayed or even derailed. i was talking during that period of time to thomas hand. he is the father of emily hand who was among that batch of hostages who are now safely on israeli soil. he

as our clarissa ward explains, the healing process begins the very moment they're back in israeli custody. >> it's been really stressed to us over and over again how important it is for the families to have privacy in this moment, and for them, at this stage, to try to break the news to their children, to their loved ones, to their relatives, about what happened on october 7th, because crucially, many of the hostages have no real sense of the full scope of what took place on october 7th. and that's why so much care has gone into ensuring that the media's kept at a distance, that there's a degree of privacy, but also that the appropriate staffing and psychiatrists and social workers are in place, and also, a lot of guidelines that were given to the idf, in terms of how they handle the hostages, when they first were there during that initial handover from the red cross. they did a cursory medical search, checking their iden identities. they were told not to answer their questions, such is, where is mommy, where is daddy, to ask permission of any children before trying to pick them up, and s

clarissa talked about the conversations they are allowed to have as the children don't necessarily know what has unfolded here on october 7th and may not have any idea of the scope of the attack on that day. they also released pictures of an intake center for the children that showed toys, pillows, games set up to try to make this process as easy as possible, even though after what they have been through, the trauma they have been through, the process of trying to reacclimate them if and of itself an incredible challenge, but one that hopefully begins to play out. >> the idf issuing a warning not to move north. for many of those in gaza, they just want to find out what's happened back home. they have been displaced into the south. what are they saying? is the idf actively preventing anybody moving north or just suggesting aggressively that they don't, as it were. >> there's certainly the suggesting we saw the idf's language spokesman give a warning saying the north is still an act tiff war zone. do not go north. we don't have concrete reporting on what measures the idf has taken to make

jeremy diamond, arlette saenz in nantucket, massachusetts, clarissa ward at a children's hospital where we expect more of the child hostages will be taken and kaitlan collins is in tel aviv and we go to her now. kaitlan? >> yeah, pam, and of course we're not seeing the level of activity at this point that we had by this time yesterday. i mean, it was close to this time yesterday we were starting to see these hostages make their way across the rafah crossing, they are, of course, going from gaza into egypt. we have not seen that level of activity tonight. that doesn't mean that this second release of hostages isn't happening. but there has been a bit of a hold-up, a bit of a delay, and what we're hearing from sources is that that was, in part, because of what we've been following the last several hours with larry madowo in cairo, the aid going in that's a key part, apparently hamas was not happy with the pace of that aid, believed it was going too slow. they were delaying the actual facilitation of the sex release of the second group of hostages because they wanted more aid to go in firs

clarissa ward, thank you for that. of course, this hostage deal followed weeks of negotiations behind the scenes. it was eventually approved by israel's cabinet in the early hours of wednesday morning. it followed aics-hour meeting that we are told by one israeli officials was tense and emotional. joining us is a man who has been in similar cabinet meetings before. maybe not to this degree, given what they are facing. former israeli prime minister bennett. what do you make of this deal? do you think this is a good deal? >> i don't want to voice my personal opinion. i have an opinion, but i don't want to go against or anything that israel is doing. i am representing the state of israel. this is the deal. the deal has arrived. as a result, very successful israeli pressure of an activity of the idf in gaza. it put the leaders of hamas under tremendous pressure and loss. so they felt they have to do the deal in order to buy a few days of respite and we're going to pay a price for that, but this would not have come about wi

she had no idea. >> kate, obviously, just hearing that interview talking in depth with clarissa about what it was like to be reunited with her. also, it just underscores what a long road she has ahead, what this 9-year-old girl, barely 9 years old, she turned 9 while in captivity, what she has been through and also how to process that. and he himself as a dad was saying, you know, he's a bit lost on how to navigate this, how to handle this. he's been speaking with a psychiatrist about what is the best path forward, and of course, emily is just one of many children who were held for more than 50 days, and more children that are still being held, and as we're hearing, the youngest on that list not expected to be released even today in that list of hostages that we are expecting to see here in the next few moments to be released. >> absolutely. and you're hitting on an important point to remind everyone, of what thomas hand is recounting is what happened, what his 9-year-old, barely 9-year-old daughter survived. i think my daughter is probably about one month older than emily. she's 9 as

clarissa ward, thank you very much.et's go over right now to cnn's ben wedeman joining us live from jerusalem. ben, what are we learning about the release of palestinian prisoners in exchange for these israeli hostages? >> reporter: well, a list has come out, wolf, of 30 individuals who are part of this day's, the sixth day of this truce exchange. it includes it 29 detainees, one convicted prisoner. it is 16 boys between the ages of 14 and 18. the rest are women. now interestingly enough, five of the women are not palestinian -- resident palestinians of the west bank. rather, they are israeli citizens, palestinian israeli citizens, so once again 29 out of the 30 are detainees. in other words, they haven't been formally charged with anything. they don't know what the charges against them are. they are in this system of administrative detention where they can be held up for six months at a time and that can be renewed time and time again. most of them, of course, if not all, have been detained since the seventh of october

cnn's chief international correspondent clarissa ward is here in tel aviv.ou spoke to him, you know, no one will forget when he said he initially thought his daughter was killed. where do you start now that they have been reunited? >> i think there is obvious joy and you saw that in that clip, the moment that he saw her, that he held her, he talked about squeezing her too hard, talked about how skinny she had become, how pale she was, and for days she would only speak in a whisper because she had been told repeatedly during her captivity to be quiet, to be quiet, and she is only now rediscovering her voice. there is a sense it will be a very long journey ahead. and we asked about the events of october 7th. of course, one of the biggest challenges for tom as a dad had been basically telling emily about what happened in kibbutz be'eri where they were living and what happened to people in her own community, part of her family. tom's first wife, who was basically like a second mother to emily, the mother of his two older children, she was killed on october 7th a

clarissa ward, thank you. we'll get back to you. >> and thomas hand has heard nothing from the government about the deal from the media, from us, that he found out about the contours of this as we were reporting it out from sources inside that meeting yesterday. what i keep thinking about is not just 9-year-old emily hand, but also the 3-year-old abigail whose aunt has beaeen on cnn multiple time, she was saying all she wanted was for her to be released by friday because that is when she turns four years order. she has two siblings who are still alive, both of their parents killed in the october 7 attacks. so as we talk about the logistics, what it means for the sides to come together, it is absolutely agonizing for these families who still don't know if it will be their loved ones released. >> absolutely a big question for so many of them. >>> and back here at home, millions of americans are gearing up for a busy thanksgiving holiday week. severe weather could disrupt some travel. we'll have that next. >>> an

clarissa, standby. we're going to get back to you. and i just want to remind our viewers 4 of the 13 israelis who were released today are little kids. omar, 9 years old. amelia, 5 years old. razza, 4 years old, and a 2-year-old. so presumably those children will be coming over to the children's hospital to be checked out as well. orenleeblerman is standing by for us. i understand you're getting new information as well. you're here in tel aviv with us. but tell our viewers exactly where you are and what's going on. >> right now we're at the medical center in south tel aviv. the hospital here is preparing to receive some of the hostages who have been rescued. their families are already here as we understand. and we also got a statement a short time ago from the idf that says two of the hostages have been transferred by ambulance to a hospital. we believe that's here. we're waiting for confirmation of that. some of the hostages who came out today will be coming to this hospital. a short time ago we did hear from a doctor who represents t

are in the group of 13, and we have not confirmed it, but the chief international correspondent clarissad is outside of the children's hospital near the hel ipad wher some of the children could be sent where you are now, clarissa, and how are the employees now bracing for the potential arrival for the hostages there? >> there is a huge amount of preparation that has gone into theer a rival, potential arrival of these children. and you can see the helipad and the blinking lights and the ambulances pulling up alongside those blinking lights and ambulances, and they are saying the staff has taken care of the specialized unit where they would be brought, these children and mothers. they will not be separating any children who come with their mothers. they said that the main objective as they were making the preparations is to ensure that it didn't look like a hospital or feel sterile or intimidating or frightening. so they have taken enormous pains to create what they called almost a beautiful hotel experience with a lot of toys and a huge amount of staff who they say they have hand picked s

days after the attack, the irish born father spoke with clarissa ward about the moment he was told his daughter had been killed. >> thomas waited two agonizing days before getting the news. >> they just said we found emily. she's dead. and i went yes. i went yes. and smiled. because that is the best news of the possibilities that i knew. she'd be in a dark room filled with christ knows how many people and terrified every minute, hour, day, and possibly years to come. so death was a blessing an absolute blessing. >> reporter: thomas says leaders of the kibbutz community today him emily's body was seen in the jam math. but almost a month from the aftermath he said the israeli army told him it's highly probable emily is alive and a hamas hostage. >> how were you told the news emily was alive? >> that was official from the army with all the information that they have, the intelligence that they have, it's very likely that she's been taken to gaza. >> reporter: thomas said he's told emily's body is not with the remains of victims and there was no blood found inside the home where she slept

cnn's clarissa ward is joining us right now. what have you learned about emily's story and the toll being held hostage took on her? >> reporter: 50 days. that's the amount of time that emily spent in captivity. for tom, it was an incredibly painful roller coaster. originally he had been told that emily was dead, that she had been killed in the october 7th attacks. then he was told that they believe she may be alive in gaza. then finally he got the news that he really never even dared to dream of, that she would be part of that release. he went to greet her, and he described to us the incredible searing moment when he first laid eyes on her, take a look. >> they should be here in a couple of minutes. like -- i don't believe it. and all of a sudden -- the door opened up and -- she just ran. it was beautiful. just like -- just like i imagined it. running together. i squeezed, probably squeezed too hard. it's only when she stepped back a little, i could see her face was chiseled, like mine was. before she left it was chubby, girlie,

clarissa ward, we'll get back to you shortly. thank you very much. >>> cnn's oren lieberman is at what's become known as hostages square here in tel aviv. how are people responding to these late breaking developments? >> reporter: wolf, a massive rally here wrapped up just a short time ago. thousands, and i feel confident to say tens of thousands of people filled the square here. the road in front of us near the defense ministry was closed. that was packed with people. and over and over again, the thing we kept hearing from the speakers was now, now, now, bring them home now. they were aware there were delays. i think they were hoping they can celebrate the release of another 13 israeli hostages from gaza and their entry into israel. certainly some disappointment, they weren't able to do that as one big -- essentially what has become an extended family. we had the chance to speak with some of the families of the hostages, those who remain hostages. even now they say, look, we feel joy because at least this process has begun, and

thanks very much, clarissa ward. i want to go to oren liebermann in tel aviv. you over in a place that's become known as hostages square. what's the mood there right now as we await the second group of hostages we hope will be released? >> reporter: wolf, there's a bit of a sense of breathless anticipation here. they know there has been a delay in the process. all the major israeli tv networks are set up here, so they're able to follow all the latest developments and are waiting for the news the process of transferring hostages from hamas to israel has begun. it's difficult for many here who are waiting for the good news. there are thousands here, perhaps even tens of thousands. the goal here was to make it 50 for 50. there's a large clock counting down the minutes. it was at 49 days, 12 hours and some minutes and just counting down. many who came here took a picture of that to mark this occasion. one thing you hear over and over again from the speakers is now, now, now, a call to the government and the negotiators to bring the hostages home now, not tomorrow,

. >> jeremy diamond, thank you let's bring in clarissa ward. she joins us from the children's hospital, where child hostages, as i understand it, may arrive their relows. what are you being told there? >> reporter: so basically, if everything goes according to plan, and as you have heard and been discussing, there are many different moving parts to this. but this hospital behind me is where these children and their mothers will be brought if they are not seriously injured or have a serious medical condition. if they have a serious medical condition, they will be taken to the hospital more likely, but if they are in reasonable shape, this is where they will be brought. we have been talking to the staff here. they are extremely tense. they are cautiously optimistic. they have not been sleeping much because there's so many preparations to make to ensure that their return is as smooth as possible. now i think the most sensitive moment when you talk about the various nodes of this operation to release the hostages is just after they are released fro

first, let's bring in cnn's chief international correspondent clarissa ward. she's here with me in tel aviv. hamas has released film as part of the hostage handoff, tell us about that. >> cnn was not present at the time of this filming. we can't confirm the locations. this is just being released on hamas' social media channels. it's just under two minutes long. there's sound in the video. presumably they're trying to not identify the voices of some of the hamas militants that are seen in the video. especially it looks it's still daylight, afternoon. you see one of the hamas fighters try to put his arm around a young boy, that, we believe, is 9 years old. he marked his 9th birthday during his seven weeks in captivity. we see in another part of the video a hamas militant carry one of the elderly hostages, an elderly woman into the vehicle. this is the moment where hamas handed over these hostages to the international red cross. again, important to emphasize for our viewers, that hamas uses these video for propaganda purposes. they're trying to make a statement,

clarissa ward has been in what is now informally known as hostage square, and i spoke to her a shorto. >> this is just the beginning of the fight. it is not the end. people want to see every single one of those 240-some hostages released and there are camps like that that have sprout up in several parts here in central tel aviv. we are in an area where the focus is on the family of a woman called hadas calderon. this is hadas calderon's family. that is her ex-husband ofir who has been kidnapped along with her two children, eras and sahar and her mother carmela and autistic niece were murdered in those october 7th attacks and the hope is for hadas calderon and many mothers and family members like her that potentially we may see the release of sahar and arez and of some of the other children who are currently being held. now, i've also spoken, kaitlan to thomas han. you may remember him, we interviewed him after the october 7th attacks and he was an irishman living in the be'eri kibbutz. initially he was told he had been killed and actually, she may be alive. i have spoken to thomas ha

great, so it's a fine ball, clarissa, it was the 1st cold off the season for the full, which but a few minutes into the 2nd talk both and time equalize. thanks to robert schools. the point keeps hoping i'm in 6 place. and in the mid, at the top of the table, and you're watching data be use from berlin up. next is all technology. so shift, i'll see you with a 3 d printing is more sustainable than other manufacturing, l. c. up until the next down by the imagine how many portions of loads us turn out in the world climate change. the story, this is much less the way from just one week. how much was going to really get we still have time to work on doing this.

cnn's chief international correspondent clarissa ward reports from tel-aviv. >> reporter: even as the first batch of hostages is poised to be released, they are not backing down. look in their eyes, this protester says, tell them that every day you are doing everything that it takes. for 47 days, friends, family members, and supporters of the estimated 240 hostages in gaza have demanded the israeli government prioritize bringing them home. here they gather in support of calderon, whose children, 12-year-old aras and 16-year-old sahar, were taken along with her ex-husband. tell me what you're going through now. are you hopeful? are you anxious? are you in denial? >> i smile, i laugh, and then i cry. >> reporter: do you know anything? have you heard anything? >> nobody knows anything. nobody. nobody. no information. i have to pray. we have to pray. >> reporter: calderon is not the only parent desperately waiting and hoping for news that has yet to come. 9-year-old emily's father thomas was initially told his daughter was killed on october 7th only to then get the news that she may be al

then thomas spoke to clarissa ward about the day that he learned that his daughter had been killed. >> thomas waited two agonizing days before getting the news. >> they said that we found emily. she is dead. i went, yes! i went yes! and smiled, because it is the best news of the possibilities that i knew that she would be in a dark room with christ knows how many people and terrified every minute, hour, day and possibly years to come. so, death was a blessing. an absolute blessing. >> reporter: thomas says that the members of the berri kibbutz said they had seen her, and then given news that made him collapse that it is highly probable that emily is alive and a hostage. >> reporter: how were you told the news that emily is possible to be alive? >> it is official from the army. with all of the information that they have, and the intelligence that they have, it is very likely that she has been taken to gaza. >> reporter: thomas says that emily's body is not with the remains of victims, and there was no blood found inside of the home where she slept the night before. and also, cell phone

clarissa ward at shiba hospital in tel aviv. we'll stay in close touch with you as well. >>> i want to go to cnn's oren lieberman in tel aviv. he's at a place that's become known as hostages square. what are you hearing from the people who have gathered there? huge numbers, i take it. >> reporter: wolf, there are thousands here, certainly, perhaps even tens of thousands, who have come to the square for what they termed 50,000 for 50. they tried to bring out 50,000 people to mark 50 days in captivity. there is what is effectively a giant timer counting up the time that the hostages have been in captivity. it's 49 days, 12 hours and ticking. as it gets toward 50 days in captivity, that's what they're trying to mark with speeches. one of the things we've heard over and over again, is now, now, now, bring them home now. one of the things i'll point out to you is just over my left shoulder here, and that's on the wall here, the hostages who have been in captivity, with the words on top "bring me home now", and yesterday we were able

days after the attack, the irish born father spoke with cnn's clarissa ward about the moment he was told daughter had been killed. >> thomas waited two agonizing days before getting the news. >> i just said, we found emily, and she is dead. i went, yes. i went yes. i smiled. because that is the best news of the possibilities that i knew she would be in a dark room filled with christ knows how many people, and terrified every minute, hour, day, and possibly years to come. so that was a blessing. an absolute blessing. >> thomas says leaders of the kibbutz community told him emily's body was seen in the aftermath, but almost a month after the massacre, thomas was given news that almost made him collapse. he says the israeli army told him it is highly probable emily is alive and a hamas hostage. >> how -- >> that was official, from the army, with all the information that they have, the intelligence that they have, it is very likely that she has been taken to gaza. >> thomas says he has been told emily's body is not with the remains of victims, and that there was no blood found inside the hom

clarissa ward talks with some of those who were trying to keep their hope alive. >> reporter: even as the first batch of hostages is poised to be released, they are not backing down. look in their eyes this protester said. tell them that every day you are doing everything that it takes. for 47 days, friends and family and members and supporters of the estimated 240 hostages have demanded the israeli government prioritize bringing them home. here they gather in support of hadas calderon whose children were taken on october 7th along with her ex-husband. >> tell me what you're going through now? are you hopeful? are you anxious, are you in den denial. >> i smile and a laugh and then i cry and i -- >> you have heard anything? >> nobody knows anything. nobody. nobody. no information. i have to pay. we have to pray. >> reporter: she's not the only parent desperately waiting and hoping for news that has yet to come. 9-year-old emily hand's father thomas was told his daughter was killed on october 7th only to get the news they may be alive and held in gaza. i want to jump through the roof wi

clarissa ward, cnn, tel aviv. >>> and now let's get to developments from cairo. the other part of the deal is the effort to get aid into gaza. what happens to that? >> reporter: yeah, and i think this has been one of the big issues since october 7, trying to get humanitarian aid into gaza and from what we've been hearing, and i'll give you some of the numbers this, is from the egyptian center, over 2,000 tons of medical aid is delivered through rafah, 6,000 tons of food, 4.5 tons of water. and it sounds like a lot on, but this is just a trickle and aid agencies are ringing the alarm bells. i want to give you some of the images of the aid trucks lining up heading toward the rafah border in anticipation for this four day truce to try to get as much aid as possible into the gaza strip. we've seen this activity playing out for the last 24 hours. and clearly aid agencies are waiting to get that water, the food, the medical supplies which by the way we know there is a dire need right now across the health care sector. and we've also heard the harrowing stories from doc

and, look, i worked a clarissa at espn. i found her to be likable and enjoyable to work with. this is -- i think it's the way she made the admission. like you said, the confidence. her saying i haven't been fired because she is not worried about being fired. and i think it was the tone of it, which a lot of us really felt betrayed by her admission. >> should she lose her job? jemele, do you think -- >> listen, that's above my pay grade. >> cari, you worked with her before. i mean, were you surprised to hear that? >> i wasn't surprised to hear that happens. so i really want to make sure i separate what i'm saying. like jemele, yes, we worked with her. we find her very likable. piling on for me is not what this conversation should be about. it should be about why does she feel comfortable enough to say that? there seems to be a lack of awareness on her part in terms of the privilege that i think she has. i think she believes she worked hard to get everything she has, she believes she deserves everything she has received, but the lack of awareness is what other reporters what i l

days after the attack, the irish-born father spoke with cnn's clarissa ward about the moment he was told daughter had been killed. >> thomas waited two agonizing days before getting the news. >> they just said we found emily. she's dead. and i went, yes. i went, yes. and smiled. because that is the best news of the possibilities that i knew she'd be in a darkroom filled with christ knows how many people, and terrified every minute, hour, day, and possible years to come. so death was a blessing. an absolute blessing. >> thomas says leaders of the be'eri's kibbutz told him the body was seen in the aftermath. a month after the massacre, thomas was given the news that almost made him collapse. the israeli army told him it's highly probable that emily is alive and a hamas hostage. >> how were you told the news that emily might be alive? >> that was official from the army. with all the information that they have, the intelligence that they have, it's very likely that she's been taken to gaza. >> thomas says her body is not with the remains of the victims, and there's no blood inside the home w

cnn's clarissa ward spoke to thomas ham, this is the father of the nine year old emily. emily had been at a sleep over, asleep over on october 7th, when hamas attacked. he initially thought that his beautiful little girl was dead. but he found out later that she had been kidnapped by hamas. she was released on saturday, and thomas says she is only just starting to even explain what she experienced. >> she said, she'll be here in a couple minutes. and i was like, what? and all of a sudden, the door opens up, and she just ran and. it was beautiful. just like i imagined it. going together, probably squeezed too hard. >> it was a moment thomas thought would never come. told his nine-year-old daughter emily had been killed in the october 7th attacks, then that she was believed to be held hostage in gaza. finally, reunited with her family, after 50 days in captivity. free, but visibly haunted by her ordeal. >> it's only when she stepped back a little that i could see her, her face was chiseled like mine, chubby, girly. a young kid. the most shocking, disturbing part of meeting

cnn's clarissa ward spoke to thomas hand. this is the father of the nine -year-old emily hand. had been at a sleep over, a sleep over, on october 7th, when hamas attacked. now he initially thought that his beautiful little girl was dead. but he found out later that she had been kidnapped by hamas. now, she was released on saturday. and thomas hand says she's only just starting to even explain what she experienced. >> i said, -- and i'm like wow. i don't believe it. and, all of the sudden, the door opened up, and just ran. it was beautiful, just like just like i imagined it. running together. i squeezed, i probably squeezed too hard. >> it was a moment thomas hand thought would never come. told his nine-year-old daughter emily had been killed in the october 7th attacks, and then that she was believed to be held hostage in gaza. finally, reunited with her family after 50 days in captivity, freed but visibly haunted by her ordeal. >> certainly when she stepped back a little, i could see her face was chiseled, like mine, when before she left it was chubby, girly, young kid. the mos

i want to start tonight with cnn's clarissa ward in tel aviv. what more do we know about the latest release of hostages? >> reporter: so, 16 hostages have been released in total today, anderson. two of them dual russian israeli nationals. that was brokered in a separate agreement between the russian government and hamas. then there were four thai nationals and ten israeli nationals as well as that dual u.s. israeli citizen. also among those released today was raaya rotem. we talked about her before. she's the mother of hila rotem, who was released on sunday, who was held with emily hand. so, some much needed respite for that family and for hela. now of course everyone's attention on the remaining hostages, whether the truce continues. and no answers yet about that, anderson. >> are there any indications about the truce, if it would be extended? >> reporter: well, so, we've got about four hours left until that deadline expires. the israeli government has said that it's prepared to consider it, although they have also been putting out a lot of sta