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Freed Hostages Arrive In Israel; Israel's War Cabinet Discusses Extending Gaza Truce; 120 Aid Truck Enter Gaza Through Rafah Border Sunday; 39 Palestinian Teenagers Released From Israeli Prison; Biden Spoke With Family Of 4-Year-Old American Abigail Edan; Hostages Released, Students Shot In Vermont; Rosalynn Carter Funeral. Aired 4- 5p ET

Aired November 26, 2023 - 16:00   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

[16:00:00]

ABED AYOUB, ATTORNEY FOR THE VICTIMS' FAMILIES: And the reasoning behind this once that's determined it will show that this was a hate crime, and this should have been avoided. And we hope it doesn't happen again.

FREDRICKA WHITFIELD, CNN HOST: And we do know that it had been stated across the country as a result, particularly of October 7th. There has been an increase of Islamophobic as well as antisemitic related crimes in the U.S. I understand you're also representing a civil rights organization, the Arab-American Antidiscrimination Committee, the ADC.

We're so grateful that, Abed Ayoub, you're able to join us today. Of course, we're hoping for the best for these three college students and their families.

AYOUB: Thank you. I appreciate that. And we'll keep you posted, and let's just, you know, hope we don't see this again and there's no room for hate as everybody has been saying throughout this process and as the victims have been saying and their families. You know, let's hope the suspect is apprehended and our students, our Arab students, Palestinian students in this country are not subject to such attacks in the future.

WHITFIELD: All right. Thank you so much, Abed Ayoub.

All right. Hello, again, everyone. Thank you so much for joining us. I'm Fredricka Whitfield alongside my colleague Wolf Blitzer in Tel Aviv.

And we have this breaking news, just moments ago, some of the Israeli hostages released by Hamas today arrived at the Schneider Children's Medical Center. This was the moment a helicopter carrying them touched down.

We're also learning all 17 hostages released today have now been transferred to hospitals. It marks a dramatic end to the 50-day ordeal that they have been through since being kidnapped by Hamas on October 7th. And among those released in this third hostage handover, dual Israeli American citizen Abigail Edan who is only 4 years old. The White House says President Biden spoke with Abigail's family earlier today. She is the first American released since the four-day truce began between Israel and Hamas.

Moments ago, Hamas announced its intention to extend that truce which is set to expire tomorrow is underway. A source now tells CNN that Israel's War Cabinet met today to discuss that very possibility of doing just that.

Let's go now to Tel Aviv and Wolf Blitzer -- Wolf.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN HOST: Fredricka, thank you very much.

CNN has correspondents on the ground, across the region, tracking all of these late-breaking developments. CNN's Oren Liebermann is with me here in Tel Aviv. I want to bring him in first.

We've learned, Oren, that Israel's War Cabinet met today about this possible extension with the truce with Hamas. What more are you learning about this?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, that's a major development in and of itself. At the very beginning when Israel announced it had approved this truce, it said there will be an extension of a pause in the fighting one day for every 10 Israeli hostages released. But we didn't really hear about it from that point on. We didn't know if it would be extended and certainly there were major questions if the deal itself would hold over the four-day period yesterday when it seemed like it was on incredibly shaky ground, on very thin ice, and might risk falling apart.

The country stepped in. The U.S. stepped in. The deal held yesterday and we saw it work much more smoothly today. The U.S. had always viewed the first two days as a testing period. We got through those and now is the opportunity and the time where it's possible to talk about extending this deal. And that's what the War Cabinet is doing according to an Israeli source familiar with the discussions.

It's a major step to get to this point. Hamas also indicated they're interested in an extension, but again it remains complicated. It remains first for a pause in the fighting. The humanitarian aid needs to keep going in, the hostages need to keep being released, the Palestinian prisoners need to keep being released. Just because it's worked for three days and will hopefully work for a fourth, that doesn't guarantee it in any way. It will still take an effort to get it over the finish line to extend it a day at a time.

BLITZER: And just to be precise, if this truce, this pause is not extended, the remaining hostages will remain in Gaza.

LIEBERMANN: And the war is back on. We believe immediately after the truce expires which would be sometime tomorrow or the next day.

BLITZER: So the stakes right now are enormous right now. The pressure on the Israeli government, you and I are in Tel Aviv, and we can feel that pressure from Israel, they want all these Israeli hostages home. LIEBERMANN: There's a tremendous amount of pressure on the Israeli

government from the inside and that's what you're talking about, from all the domestic pressure. We've seen the demonstrations at "Hostages Square" to make sure and push the government to bring all the hostages home. But also from the outside, the international community has seen what's happened in northern Gaza.

The results of the Israeli assault there, the humanitarian crisis that is deepening, and they know that if aid doesn't continue to go in, that humanitarian crisis will only worsen. So Israel facing a tremendous amount of pressure internally, externally, to keep this process going and keep the truce going as long as is possible.

[16:05:02]

BLITZER: Yes. We'll see what happens on this front. It's a very, very important moment right now in this entire situation.

I want to go to CNN's Matthew Chance. He's standing by. He's over at the Schneider Children's Medical Center outside of Tel Aviv.

Matthew, we just saw some of those hostages arrive where you are. First of all, has there been any updates at all on the conditions of these hostages once they arrive at the hospital? Have you seen any -- have you gotten any specific information on that front?

MATTHEW CHANCE, CNN CHIEF GLOBAL AFFAIRS CORRESPONDENT: Not specific information from our perspective here. We've not heard from the hospital. What we've done is see these two giant military helicopters, one of which is still parked on the helipad behind me, deliver those freed hostages to the Schneider medical facility over the course of the past few minutes.

There are nine children who were released in this third group of hostages from Gaza over the course of the days, five adults as well. And we believe, and this is what we've been told by the Hostage Forum, the group set up to help the families, that they've all been brought here, certainly all the children have been brought here. And that includes, of course, 4-year-old U.S. Israeli citizen Abigail Edan.

She had her fourth birthed on Friday as a hostage inside the Gaza Strip. She's been met here by her family but it's going to be very difficult because as we've been reporting her family says that she doesn't know. She's not yet aware. Maybe she's not old enough to understand. But she's actually an orphan because both her mother and her father were killed in Kfar Aza, that small Israeli community near Gaza which was attacked along with several others on October the 7th and from where she was ripped away into captivity inside Gaza.

You spoke earlier about, you know, what happened to her. She was in her father's arms apparently. He was trying to protect her when he was killed. She then ran to her next-door neighbor's house, the Brodutch family, and tried to take shelter with them. But then they were all abducted together, and now Hagar Brodutch who's the mother of three children aged 10, 8 and 4, they were also released alongside Abigail as well. So her next-door neighbors are also in this chopper as well. They've

been released from captivity inside Gaza. So that's I supposed one positive as well. Certainly a positive for the father of that family who I spoke to earlier this evening, and he told me how excited he was going to be to actually meet his family again after more than 50 days. Hopefully that's now happened.

Chen Goldstein Almog, she's a mother with three children, she was on this chopper as well. She's been released today. They're also going to be coming into a very changed world because these children's father and one of the sisters was killed in Kfar Aza as well. And so all of these hostages, whether they've lost loved ones or whether those loved ones are still alive and are welcoming them back here, they've still endured an unimaginable amount of trauma, Wolf. And so the process of recovering from that is going to be a very, very long one indeed.

BLITZER: Matthew, have any of the hostages been able to share how they were treated by Hamas during their ordeal, 50 days as hostages?

CHANCE: Yes, they have. There have been some Israeli hostages that have come out and said that actually they were -- they didn't eat well. They were given just rice and bread, and so -- and lost a lot of weight. And so that's one account from some Israeli hostages that have given statements to the media over the course of the past 24 hours. Less than that.

A Thai hostage, the sister of a Thai hostage, one of the foreign nationals who's now been released, has told the media that her brother says he was treated well. He wasn't tortured. He was kept in a house and his food was good. And so slightly kind of contradictory accounts of the different circumstances, obviously different people were kept in. I think that's important. Because of the 240 hostages that Israel believed are being -- were being held before these releases started happening inside Gaza, they're not all in one place.

Some are in tunnels, some are kept underground, some are kept in houses, all in very varying degrees of hardship. And so, you know, obviously everybody's experience of this 50 days or so maybe very different -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Yes, good point. Stand by. I want to bring in Larry Madowo. He's in Cairo for us.

Larry, officials in Egypt where you are say more than 100 aid trucks successfully passed through that Rafah Border Crossing from Egypt into Gaza today. What more are you learning about the aid that entered today because providing this aid, that's part of this overall hostage arraignment that's been worked out through Qatar and Egypt, the United States and others?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We know that at least today according to the Israelis that the maximum allowed number of trucks got into Gaza, a joint IDF and COGAT statement said 200 trucks were allowed into Gaza and the Palestinian Red Crescent has said that 100 trucks made it into northern Gaza which is important because that is part of the delay Saturday in releasing the hostages because Hamas wants more aid getting into northern Gaza.

[16:10:18]

But as Oren already pointed out, that's part of the holdup here in trying to extend this truce. We're in a race against time to figure out if it's going to be possible to extend it beyond the Monday deadline when it ends and then the war is likely to go right back to where it was. And Qatar says it's putting in efforts diplomatically and on a humanitarian front to try to extend this. It's involving Egypt in conversation with the United States to try and agree to extend this for some kind of period.

Again, the deal was for every 10 hostages an extra day. Hamas would have to release 10 hostages to buy that extra day. If they're not holding those hostages, they have to find them somehow. They're with the Islamic Jihad, that they would -- another group of civilians, so that's one of the things we're hearing from the Qataris here, that they're working to try to extend this. If Egypt and the U.S. and everybody can agree to this.

On the other hand, the aid has to be dramatically ramped up. This ceiling of 200 trucks is not something that the Palestinians are happy about, it's not something that a lot across the Arab world are happy about. For instance, the Qataris point out that if you bring in medical equipment and they're having to wait for two weeks at the Rafah Border Crossing, some of that medical equipment, some of the drugs and the medicines are expiring.

So if they cannot get in quickly into the Gaza Strip, then it's pointless. And that's one of the ways that they will have to figure out if they can extend this truce -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Larry Madowo in Cairo for us watching all of this unfold. Larry, thank you very much.

Oren Liebermann, Matthew Chance, we want to thank you guys as well.

In exchange for the 17 Israeli and foreign hostages released today, Israel released 39 Palestinian prisoners.

We're going to take a quick break. Our breaking news coverage will continue right after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:16:20]

BLITZER: This evening images from Ramallah in the West Bank showing celebrations in the streets as buses carrying 39 Palestinian prisoners and detainees arriving there. In exchange for the 17 Israeli and foreign hostages released earlier in the day.

This marks the third such exchange of hostages for prisoners between Israel and Hamas during their current four-day temporary truce.

CNN's Nada Bashir is joining us now live from Jerusalem. She's all over this story for us.

Nada, what can you tell us about these prisoner releases?

NADA BASHIR, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, look, once again, Wolf, we have seen this huge crowds gathering in the occupied West Bank today focused around the downtown area of Ramallah, where we have seen hundreds of people now gathering to celebrate and welcome the release of those 39 detainees and prisoners.

This is the third day that we have seen Palestinians who are held in Israeli custody released as part of that truce agreement between Israel and Hamas which we'll see over the course of four days some 150 Palestinians held in Israeli custody released as part of that agreement. Today, another 39 released. Among them, 33 under the age of 18. Teenagers, one as young as 14 years old.

And, again, the majority of them had been held under administrative detention, meaning no charges were laid against them. No clear ongoing legal process for those who had been detained, and of course this has been a huge moment of relief, of hope for many Palestinians, both in the occupied West Bank and in Jerusalem.

We were at (INAUDIBLE) speaking to a number of those families as well as some of those teenagers who had been released, who spoke of their hope, of their joy of being reunited with family members. But, of course, this hasn't been an easy process. In fact this has been quite a delicate process. Yesterday, we saw some delays and information getting out to families as to who would actually be released.

Today things seem to have moved somewhat more smoothly than yesterday. But of course for many families, they are still waiting to hear whether or not their children, their brothers and sisters will be released tomorrow as part of that fourth day of that truce agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Now of course earlier in the week, we saw a list of about 300 Palestinian detainees and prisoners issued by Israeli authorities. Those 300 are potentially eligible for release as part of that 150 figure. Among those listed, one of the more common charges listed there was throwing stones at Israeli soldiers as we've seen so often in those ongoing raids and clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces, and also risking and threatening regional security.

Of course, many of those in that list were also held under administrative detention. This is a list of women and children set to be released. Now we have been speaking to a number of these families, a number of those who had gathered yesterday, in fact, where we saw thousands of people taking to the streets in the occupied West Bank in celebration of this moment and many of them told us that while they were overjoyed to be reunited with family members, they couldn't completely be happy given the fact that we are seeing that mounting civilian death toll in the Gaza Strip.

Many telling us that they as Palestinians in the occupied West Bank feel as one with Palestinians in the Gaza Strip. Their hope is that this truce could potentially continue beyond that four-day point. That they will continue to be a much needed respite for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. But of course this is a very delicate process. Now as we know, as we have seen over the last three days, it is very much dependent on confirmation of the safe evacuation of those Israeli hostages held in Hamas captivity inside the Gaza Strip.

[16:20:11]

At this stage, of course, the Qatari officials have been playing a very essential role in keeping that agreement, the terms of that agreement upheld. It remains to be seen of course whether we continue to see that tomorrow, the hope is, again, of course that we will see more Palestinians for those in the occupied West Bank and Jerusalem released as part of that agreement. But there has also been some uncertainty of course around the process.

There are still many families who do not know whether or not their loved ones, their relatives will be among those released tomorrow.

BLITZER: Yes, it's a good point. And if, in fact, this truce is extended a few more days, more Israeli hostages, presumably, will be released and more Palestinian prisoners will be released at the same time. We'll see if the truce is extended, the stakes are clearly very significant right now.

Nada Bashir, reporting from Jerusalem, thank you very much.

And only moments ago President Biden arrived back in Washington from Nantucket. We're going to have a live report from the White House when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:25:22]

BLITZER: We're continuing to follow all this really important and historic breaking news. All 17 hostages released by Hamas today have now been transferred to hospitals in Israel. Short time ago, some of the freed Israeli hostages arrived at the Schneider Children's Medical Center just outside of Tel Aviv. This was the moment a helicopter carrying them touched down. You can see that right there.

Among those released in this third hostage handover, dual Israeli American citizen Abigail Edan who's only 4 years old. The White House says President Biden spoke with Abigail's family earlier today. She is the first American released since the four-day truce between Israel and Hamas actually began. The White House says President Biden also spoke today with the family of the 4-year-old American girl released as well as Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Let's go to CNN's Priscilla Alvarez. She's joining us from the White House right now.

Priscilla, so what is the White House saying about those phone conversations?

PRISCILLA ALVAREZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: It was a busy afternoon of phone calls for President Biden and in these readouts from the White House, that they are keeping it brief and saying that the president had spoken with Abigail's family both in the United States and Israel. And that this was a topic of discussion as well between the president and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as well as the continued release of hostages and surging aid into Gaza.

And we're also learning, Wolf, more details about the push from the United States for the release of this 4-year-old. U.S. officials believe that she was held in northern Gaza with her neighbors, and the president pushed in his conversation with leaders over the last several weeks for her release in his negotiations along with the release of two other American women. Now they were not part of the release today. That is still an ongoing effort by the United States and will see if they can secure their release in the hours and days to come.

But the U.S. was able to track the movements of Abigail Edan over the course of the day today as she made her way to Israel and the president was in close touch with his senior advisers as that was ongoing and they did not breathe a sigh of relief, Wolf, until she was firmly in Israel. And that is when we heard from the president today in his remarks to reporters where he talked about what Abigail Edan and these other hostages have endured.

In her case he said that she has been through, quote, "terrible trauma" and that her experience has been, quote, "unthinkable." Both of her parents killed in that October 7th attack. Her siblings are alive. But this has, indeed, been what the president called an unthinkable experience and one that the president and his White House officials have been working closely behind the scenes to try to secure her release along with others.

And he expressed optimism today that there could be more releases in the days to come and a potential continued pause in fighting if Hamas were to agree to exchange 10 hostages for each day in -- each day pause in fighting. Take a listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: Critically needed aid is going in and hostages are coming out. This still is structured so it can be extended to keep building on these results. That's my goal. That's our goal, to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into those who are in need in Gaza.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

ALVAREZ: Now the message from the president is bottom line the work is still ongoing. It's not yet done. That is what he and the Israeli prime minister talked about today and the two will continue to remain in close contact over the days to come -- Wolf.

BLITZER: Priscilla Alvarez at the White House for us. Priscilla, thank you very much. I want to bring in Tim Naftali right now. He's a CNN presidential

historian and a former director of the Nixon Presidential Library.

Tim, thanks so much for joining us. First of all, how significant is it for this first American, this child to be freed alongside these other hostages, Israeli, Thai and a duo Russian Israeli citizen?

TIM NAFTALI, CNN PRESIDENTIAL HISTORIAN: Well, first of all, as a human being, it's an emotional moment when you look at the ages of all of the children that have been released. And you think of the terror that these children have been through, it's a beautiful moment. In terms of U.S. national security policy, it was very important that given the role the United States played in piecing together this agreement, that an American be released. And I understand that three are supposed to be released, over the course of the four hostage releases. So, that was very significant.

[16:30:20]

It became clear that Hamas was holding back the Americans. We -- as you would well know, we didn't see any Americans released in the first and the second hostage releases.

\And it became clear that Hamas was holding on to the Americans, maybe because the agreement with Israel was beginning to fray. And Hamas understood that the way to keep Israel on track, this -- their thinking was to make sure the United States pressured Israel.

The United States will pressure Israel, as long as American lives are at risk.

BLITZER: Good point. The U.S., as you correctly pointed out, has played a very significant role in getting this entire truce agreement in place, working with Egypt and Qatar, and others for that matter.

I want you to listen, Tim, to what President Biden said earlier today, about potentially extending this agreement. Listen to this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

JOE BIDEN, PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: That's our goal, to keep this pause going beyond tomorrow, so that we can continue to see more hostages come out and surge more humanitarian relief into the --into those in -- who are in need in Gaza.

We've seen -- this is the day-by-day approach, hour-by-hour process. Nothing is guaranteed. And nothing is being taken for granted. But the proof that this is working and worth pursuing further is in every smile and every grateful tear we see on the faces of those families who are finally getting back together again.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BLITZER: And, as we learn, Tim, that Israel's war cabinet is now discussing extending the truce, that's significant. How critical is the U.S. role in all of this? NAFTALI: I think the U.S. role is enormously significant. The United

States and, first of all, President Biden made a very important strategic decision in the beginning. That there should be no daylight, public daylight, between Israel and the United States. That it was clear to the world that the United States saw the attack by Hamas as terrorism, not as legitimate resistance.

Behind the scenes, there is no doubt, there's been great reporting, much of it from us, that, behind the scenes, the United States has been trying to persuade Israel to reduce, A, the number of civilian casualties. And, B, to see that only a pause would lead to hostage releases.

The challenge now, Wolf is -- first of all, what will Hamas' terms be? There's been some reporting today that Hamas wants more Palestinians to be released per hostage. What will Hamas seek? And, two, how much patience will the current Israeli government have in these pauses?

One thing we have noted is that Israel's approach to the crisis, understandably, was to eliminate Hamas as a threat to Israel. But eliminating Hamas as a threat also implies regime change.

Israel is in northern Gaza. It's not in southern Gaza. How do you achieve regime change without going into southern Gaza, with all of the humanitarian consequences that will bring.

And, at that point, will we start to see, as Israel does this, some daylight, public daylight, between the United States and Israel? So far, we haven't seen that.

But the -- this issue of the hostage releases may lead to some public disagreements between Washington and Jerusalem.

BLITZER: Wouldn't be the first time, if that happens. We shall see. But that's an important point.

When I interviewed the Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, earlier today in Jerusalem, Tim, he seemed skeptical of President Biden's repeated comments in recent days, urging a renewed push for what's called a two-state solution. Israel -- the state of Israel living alongside a new state of Palestine. Is this a nonstarter in Israel right now, given the mood based on what you're hearing and seeing?

NAFTALI: Well, Wolf, I'm not -- what I've read suggests to me that the current government in Israel has no interest in a two-state solution. The United States' policy, it's a renewal, actually, of a long- standing policy. It only stopped in the Trump era. But before the Trump era, Republicans and Democrats alike sought a two-state solution.

President Biden has returned us to our traditional United States policy in the Middle East, as you well know.

[16:35:03]

NAFTALI: The challenge for the United States is neither Hamas nor it appears the current Israeli government are seeking a two-state solution.

So, what's the United States supposed to do? We're not in a position to impose a two-state solution. We are not in a position to get the Palestinian authority, which would be the likely government of -- new government of Gaza to participate.

I mean, what one would hope for is that Egypt and Saudi Arabia and other Arab states would begin the push for a two-state solution. And, thus, put Hamas in a difficult position, while America works on its Israeli ally.

But, on its own, the United States, I'm afraid, isn't capable, couldn't possibly force a two-state solution on two regimes, or two governments, that don't want it.

BLITZER: Yes, it's, obviously, very problematic indeed. The historian, Tim Naftali, thank you so much for joining us. We'll certainly continue this conversation. Lots to discuss.

Still to come, police are now investigating the shooting of three Palestinian college students in Vermont. We have details, and we'll share them with you, when we come back.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:40:34]

WHITFIELD: An investigation is underway in Vermont, after three Palestinian college students were shot in Burlington last night. Police say the students were walking down a street, when they were confronted and shot by a white male suspect.

Joining me right now is CNN Correspondent Polo Sandoval. Polo, what are we hearing about a potential arrest or a suspect?

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes. Hearing from multiple sources close to the families, and we can tell you that these are three 20- year-olds in the hospital right now in Vermont. Two of them in stable condition. One of them in critical condition. Three of them students at various American universities.

All of them had been visiting Vermont over the Thanksgiving holiday, when Burlington police say a man, described only as a white man, approached them, and then fired his handgun, injuring all three of them.

Again, that is the only suspect information that's been shared by Burlington police, who say they are not quite ready to establish this yet as a hate crime. Though this is certainly something they are taking a very close look at, given that at least two of these young men were wearing those traditional scarves, a symbol of solidarity with Palestinian, at the time of the shooting yesterday. Which just happened to take place close to the University of Vermont. But that's not where these students attended.

Let me bring you up to speed on the identifies of three young men. According to what we have heard, from the Institute for Middle Eastern understanding, which is in close contact with the families of Tahseen Ali Ahmed, who is the gentleman that you saw on the left of that photo. Kinnan Abdalhamid who's the young man there at the center, hugging both of his friends. And, on the right, you'll see Hisham Awartani.

Now, we understand that AwartanI's mother is still in Ramallah right now, which is where she lives. And she is desperately trying to leave the region to make her way to the United States, so that she can be with her 20-year-old son, who we understand is in stable condition.

But we also understand, according to the former Palestinian minister of education, who's also in close contact with the families of these young men, that Awartani has a bullet lodged in his spine. So, it is still unclear whether or not --you know, how he'll be able to recover out of all of this. So, it's certainly a traumatic incident here.

The FBI in the region saying that they are aware of this. They are ready to step in and assist, should we get to the point where this investigation leads us to believe that this is, in fact, a hate crime.

But, look, we've already heard from various Palestinian and Arab American civil rights groups in the United States, who say it all adds up. That they are confident that that's exactly what this was.

In fact, you just had a conversation, Fred, in the last hour, with an attorney representing the families. Who says that this gunman, who's still on the loose, did not exchange any words. Simply walked up to them and opened fire.

So, it'll certainly be interesting to follow this investigation. And the Burlington police chief saying, given the geopolitics at play, certainly the conflict that's been happening half a world away, because of that, they're certainly going to take a prior -- this will be a priority to establish whether or not these three young men were specifically targeted because of what they were wearing. And, of course, because of who they were. Are, I should say.

(CROSSTALK)

WHITFIELD: Yes, that's right. All right, Polo Sandoval, thank you so much.

SANDOVAL: Thanks, Fred.

WHITFIELD: All right, we are following developments in Israel and Gaza, where a third group of hostages was released today. I'll talk to our next guest about what's next for the people in Gaza, after this temporary truce ends.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[16:48:29]

All right, we're continuing to follow this breaking news, all 17 hostages released by Hamas today have now been transferred to hospitals. A short time ago, some of the freed Israeli hostages arrived at the Schneider Children's Medical Center.

And you can see, at the moment, a helicopter carrying them touched down. This all comes on day three of a four-day truce agreement, where Israeli hostages and Palestinian prisoners were released.

Let's bring in Frida Ghitis. She is a global affairs columnist and contributing columnist at "The Washington Post." Good to see you, Frida.

You argued in a CNN op-ed that this truce agreement created a deep moral dilemma. How do you view it, now that we have seen now three days of this exchange of hostages and prisoners released?

FRIDA GHITIS, CNN CONTRIBUTOR: Hi, Fred. It's undeniable that what we are seeing is just -- is really heartening. It's heartwarming to see these hostages be reunited with their families. But this is not a source of unqualified joy for Israelis or for Palestinians in Gaza. This war is going to start again.

And for Israelis, these -- this is entire process has been filled with conflict. They've had to negotiate with an organization that is committed to their destruction.

Even just days after this October seventh attack, one of the top leaders of Hamas went on Lebanese television and said that they would do this again and again and again.

[16:50:02]

GHITIS: That their objective is the annihilation of the state of Israel.

So, for Israel to negotiate for this -- with this organization, after they have --they have killed and kidnapped and set on fire entire families, it's just really, really morally distasteful, painful process. On the other hand, Israel has a long tradition of paying a high price to save the lives of its citizens.

And, in fact, some years ago, some years ago, they made a hostage exchange. There was one Israeli soldier, Gilab Shalip (ph), who was taken by Hamas and kept for half a decade. They exchanged him for more than a thousand Palestinian prisoners.

And one of the prisoners that was freed from an Israeli jail was Yahya Sinwar, who is now the head of Hamas in Gaza. And is believed to have been the mastermind of this operation that killed more Jews than on any day since the holocaust.

So, you know, there is --there is reason for joy, certainly it's among some families and among most Israelis. But there's also a reason for concern because this cessation of hostilities actually helps Hamas strengthen itself.

WHITFIELD: And now that Israel's war cabinet is discussing the possibility of a truce extension, what do you think is at the heart of the debate? What do you think is at stake, even potentially? GHITIS: Well, there are --there are these two conflicting goals. There

is one goal, which is to make Hamas be incapable of attacking Israel again, especially because Hamas is so closely affiliated with Iran. So, the Israeli --the Israeli military and the Israeli security establishment is determined to defang Hamas. To destroy it if they can.

On the other hand, you have these human lives. And the government of Israel, of course, would like to see the hostages released. But there is -- more than anything, there is political pressure at home. And the families of the hostages have become a very powerful political force.

They organized themselves with a speed that was really astonishing. They became --they became a real political force inside of Israel. And they are really pressuring the government to do whatever it can to negotiate to have these hostages released.

And I think if the decision were up to the military alone, they would say don't stop. Keep the pressure up. But there is this trade-off, between saving these lives and going after Hamas. There is no question in my mind that this pause in the fighting strengthens Hamas.

And, you know, I should say that as long as Hamas is in power in Gaza, the future for the people of Gaza is bleak. Hamas is an --is really an enemy of peace. Anyone who wants to see a two-state solution, those of us who would like to see reconciliation between Israelis and Palestinians, cannot hope --cannot be rooting for Hamas here.

The sooner Hamas is out of Gaza, the sooner there is the possibility of a path to reconciliation. So, anything that helps Hamas does not help peace.

WHITFIELD: All right, we'll leave it there for now. Frida Ghitis, thank you so much. We'll be right back.

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[16:57:45]

WHITFIELD: This weekend in Atlanta, the funeral for former first lady, Rosalynn Carter, who passed away last week at 96 years old. CNN Correspondent Eva McKend is in Plains, Georgia, where parishioners gathered this morning to celebrate her legacy. Eva, what are the plans this week?

EVA MCKEND, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Yes, Fred, well, a number of celebrations planned. Tomorrow will be the wreath laying ceremony in Americus, followed by a larger celebration on Tuesday in Atlanta at Emory University. That is the one that President Biden is expected to attend, among other dignitaries.

And then, Rosalynn Carter will return here to her hometown of Plains to Maranatha Baptist Church. That's where she will be funeralized.

And, Fred, we had the opportunity to be at the church this morning and speaking to folks there. You could really, I think, characterize the tone as hopeful. People really expressing a spirit of gratitude more than somber.

They talked about preparations for this week, fixing the flower pots. At one point, former President Carter's niece, Kim Fuller, asked the congregation to sing "Morning Has Broken" as loud as they could, so that Rosalynn could hear them.

We had the opportunity to catch up with one of the deacons at the church. And he spoke about the importance of servant leadership, something that he said that Rosalynn Carter really embodied. Let's listen.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

ZACH STEELE, DEACON, MARANTHA BAPTIST CHURCH: I personally saw her at the food ministry where she would give just loaves of bread into the windows of cars. That's all she could hold. And this was even last year.

But it was -- she would serve until she absolutely couldn't serve anymore. And you see so many people who --they're worried about themselves these days. But, you know, it's a different generation of servant leadership, and what we saw from the Carter family. So, we're forever grateful for her.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

MCKEND: So, we were at a walk-through today in America's nearby Plains here, in advance of the event tomorrow. And a question on many folks' minds is will former President Carter be at any of these remembrances for his beloved wife? The short answer, Fred, is, at this point, we do not know if the 99 year old will be able to attend any of these events.

[17:00:00]

MCKEND: But we do know that preparations are being made, in the event that he does show up, for him to be able to come.

WHITFIELD: Yes. Well, they were married 77 years. I mean incredible union. Eva McKend, thank you so much.

Thank you so much for joining me today. I'm Fredricka Whitfield in Atlanta along with my colleague.