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Ceasefire between Israel and Hamas begins as Israel Prepares to Receive Hostages Held by Hamas; Hamas to Release 13 Women and Children to Israel; Americans Held by Hamas Not Expected to be Released on First Day of Ceasefire; Hamas Expected to Free Some Hostages, 13 Women and Children. Aired 8-8:30a ET

Aired November 24, 2023 - 08:00   ET

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

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: This is CNN breaking news.

POPPY HARLOW, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, everyone. Welcome to CNN as we follow this significant breaking news in Gaza right now. Just one hour from now, Hamas is expected to start releasing some of the hostages. A U.S. official tells CNN, though, they are not, not expecting Americans to be in this first group of 13 women and children set to be released. It has been eight hours since the fighting was paused in Gaza and the temporary truce does appear at this moment to be holding. A column of Israeli tanks and armored vehicles was seen heading away from the Gaza Strip this morning.

ERICA HILL, CNN ANCHOR: And the Israeli military says it is ready and it is prepared to receive the hostages. We are told that each helicopter for those hostages will have a medical team onboard, and the released hostages will also be given noise-canceling headphones for that flight to provide a little bit of peace and quiet on that helicopter ride.

Meantime, in southern Gaza drone video shows families walking the streets of Khan Yunis this morning after that truce went into effect. You can also see in that video some of the destruction from the airstrikes. Part of the hostage deal, of course, was also centered on allowing desperately needed humanitarian aid into Gaza. And this morning we have seen lines of trucks crossing into the region from Egypt.

HARLOW: An Egyptian official says 200 trucks that are full of food and water and medicine will enter Gaza daily. We have not seen that number of trucks going into Gaza with aid since the war began. But right now it is just an agonizing wait for the families of hostages who don't know if their loved ones will end up being among the 50 women and children set to be released under this deal.

We have team coverage this morning. Jeremy Diamond is live at the Israel-Gaza border near a crossing that hostages may travel through. Our Clarissa Ward is at a children's hospital in Israel where those hostages may be taken once they are released.

And let's begin with our Kaitlan Collins. She joins us live in Tel Aviv. A really significant development, Kaitlan, that our reporting is no U.S. citizens will be a part of this initial 13 hostages set to be released, and one of the key questions is that would that then, include Abigail Edan, the now four year old girl, it's her fourth birthday today, and her family pleading to have her home in time for it.

KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN CHIEF WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: They really wanted her to be home. Of course, she has two siblings that are still alive. They wanted her to be reunited with them on this day that she does turn four-years-old. But what we are hearing right now is that Americans are not in this initial group of 13 hostages that are going to be released, expected to happen within the next hour here, Poppy and Erica.

But we have heard from White House officials that they were anticipating, they were hopeful that they would be in this first group but they were not fully expecting it. They said they themselves did not know who initially was going to be released. But they are hopeful Americans will be in this group of 50, and that is expected to be the total of hostages that are released over the next four days as this temporary truce is expected to go on.

Of course, the question is whether or not it holds. There has been a history of hostilities and ceasefires between Hamas and Israel where they have been broken several times. So that's why there is a lot of skepticism and questions about whether or not this deal is going to hold. So far it appears to have done so. Since midnight eastern, 7:00 a.m. local, that is when all fighting was supposed to stop and we started to see those aid trucks going into Gaza, which of course was another significant part of this deal.

And now the question is about the hostages themselves and whether or not they are going to get out, what that looks like. And as you noted there, they are going to great lengths to try to put these hostages at ease, giving them noise-canceling headphones for that helicopter ride where they are going to be going from being in Gaza to then Egypt and coming here to Israel where, of course, they will have medical screenings, they will have check-ups. But also, they will get to be with their families for the first time since October 7th which is going to be a critical moment that we are watching.

And also seeing what today means for the next several days, how does it spell out what we believe the future releases could look like. CNN's Jeremy Diamond is on the Israel-Gaza border near one of those possible crossing where we may see hostages being able to come across once they are freed. Jeremy, from what you are seeing on the ground, what have you gleaned about what is happening and whether or not that is going to be a place why we could see the hostages coming out of Gaza?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, this Kerem Shalom crossing is a really important crossing between Israel and Gaza. It also has a portion going between Israel and Egypt as well. And it is right over my shoulder here, right behind me. This is one of the potential locations where some of these hostages, 50 over four days, but 13 expected today, could potentially cross from.

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It is the crossing where Gilad Shalit, that Israeli soldier who was held for over five years by Hamas was held, was brought across into Israel in 2011 after being held in captivity for five years. So this is a significant crossing. It is also where the Raanan family, Judith and Natalie Raanan, some of those two American-Israeli hostages who were released under what Hamas called humanitarian grounds, they were brought across the border by Israeli officials at this Kerem Shalom crossing as well.

So there's certainly a lot of history to this crossing. And so it is potentially one of those locations where we could be seeing hostages come across. My understanding is that once these hostages come across a cross, whether it is Kerem Shalom or another, they will then be taken in buses to a nearby air force base. And from there they will have the opportunity to speak with their families on the phone or in person, and from there, depending on an initial medical assessment, they may be brought to hospitals.

There are six hospitals across Israel that are prepared to receive these hostages depending on the severity of their case, depending on whether they are adults or whether they are children. But certainly, there has been an overwhelming, massive whole of government effort here in Israel to prepare for this moment which could happen within the next hour. We will see.

And certainly, in talking to Israeli officials, Kaitlan, I can tell you that they are prepared for this moment, but they are still not willing to say 100 percent it is going to happen. People are crossing their fingers. People are waiting on pins and needles with anxiety to see whether or not this deal will actually come through, whether or not those hostages come 4:00 p.m. or shortly thereafter will actually be able to cross into Israel. Certainly, the families of those hostages, of those coming today, are waiting for that, but also the hostages going forward. This is going to be an enormous move to prove whether or not Hamas is capable of delivering these hostages and whether or not more hostages could potentially be released in the future.

COLLINS: Yes, and of course, the release of those hostages and that going well is what the release of the Palestinian prisoners here in Israel also is dependent on. Jeremy Diamond in Kerem Shalom, we'll continue to check back in with you.

You are looking at a map now where you can see Jeremy was just reporting from where we could see potentially hostages coming through. Children who we do know are among these hostages would then be taken to Schneider Children's Hospital. That is in Petah Tikva. That is where we find CNN's Clarissa Ward right now. Clarissa, of course, Jeremy was talking about this whole of government approach as they are preparing for the fact that children are going to be among those that are going to be released, we believe, today. What have you been seeing from where you are?

CLARISSA WARD, CNN CHIEF INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: So, we have been talking to some of the staff inside the hospital just behind me. This is where they hope very much to be greeting at some point in the coming hours or later tonight some of those children who are likely to be among the released and also their mothers. They are anticipating that there will be some mothers with the children. They say they will not be separating any mothers from the children. And those who are in reasonable condition will be brought here. Those who have more serious medical concerns will be taken to one of a number of different hospitals.

They say they have not been sleeping. They are anxious, tense, but also, of course, fervently hopeful that they may be able to receive those hostages later on in the day. This is just one of the nodes of this operation, though, as you and Jeremy have been outlining, Kaitlan. And there is a lot of sensitivity around the issue of dealing with these child hostages. The Israeli government and the Ministry of Welfare has put out very specific and comprehensive guidelines for Israeli forces who will be responsible for handling those children when they come over from the Red Cross as they then cross into Israel. They will be identified. They will be given a cursory, or a sort of initial medical examination to make sure that none of them need absolutely immediate care. Then they will be allowed to have a video or a phone call with family members.

And a lot of these children, don't forget, may not even know which of their family members have been killed, which of their family members have been alive. And in accordance with that they have been given these guidelines, the IDF. I just want to read from one portion of the guidelines. It says, children will ask questions such as, where is mom, where is daddy? Soldiers should not answer these questions even if they know the answers. Any questions should be answered along the lines, sweetheart, I'm sorry, I don't know. My job is to bring you to Israel to a safe place where people who you know will be waiting for you and will answer all your questions.

They were also told not to try to pick up the children without asking their permission first because everybody here, while the hopes are so high that they will be seeing the release of some of these hostages later, understands the children who come out of Gaza may be very different little children to when they first went into Gaza.

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And so really trying to approach this in the most sensitive and humane manner as possible, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yes. I mean, Clarissa, just to see the small details of even preparing to have stuffed animals ready for these children who we don't even know what conditions they have been held in for these 48 days, whether -- we heard from the two elderly women who were released where it was a shock to see sunlight because they had been underground in these tunnels for so long that it was almost a shock to their system, and just to imagine little children having to deal with that and potentially, as you noted, having to find out their families may not be alive. It's just kind of hard to even prepare for that level of trauma.

WARD: Very hard to prepare for that level of trauma, and very hard to be potentially one of those IDF soldiers with a small child asking where's mommy and where is daddy, and maybe knowing that they answer is something terrible, and not being able to share that and not being able to comfort them appropriately.

I think everybody, honestly, Kaitlan, is focused right now on just trying to put one foot in front. Other. There are so many different moving parts to this. The one glimmer of hope possibly in terms of how the children who have been held hostage -- I should say there's, according to the Israeli government, 40 minors or children under 18 who are being held inside, is that Hamas has gone to great lengths to try to show, if only perhaps for propaganda purposes, that they are humane, that the hostages are getting treatment, that they are getting medical care, that they are being fed.

But as you point out, and any mother or father or, frankly, human being will understand this, even so, how terrifying it must be for these children, separated in many cases from their families, in many cases being held underground for weeks on end, not knowing where they are, not knowing what's going on, not knowing where their families are. You are going to be dealing with some very serious cases of trauma. And I think everybody here is bracing themselves for that and trying to make sure that they are doing everything within their power to make this as smooth a transition back home as possible, Kaitlan.

COLLINS: Yes. Clarissa Ward, thank you.

Poppy, it's just kind of hard to overstate what this moment means here in Israel. Everywhere you go, these 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." And so the idea that within this 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.

HARLOW: Absolutely does. Kaitlan, thank you.

Within the next hour, we do expect to see the first 13 hostages, as Kaitlan said released. This is 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. They are the parents of 23-year-old Israeli-American Hersh Goldberg-Polin. And witnesses say Hersh was taking cover in a bomb shelter, look at that, at the music festival when Hamas gunmen began throwing grenades inside. His parents say they learned his arm was hit and severed below the elbow. He was kidnapped with that severe injury. But Hersh fought back while he was being attacked. He tried to protect others the entire time, and that says everything about his character.

His parents, Jon Polin and Rachel Goldberg join us, again, from Jerusalem. Jon and Rachel, I will never forget when we spoke almost seven weeks ago, and Rachel, you told me he is the perfect son for me. Does it feel like your perfect son is closer to coming home?

RACHEL GOLDBERG, MOTHER OF ISRAELI-AMERICAN HOSTAGE HERSH GOLDBERG- POLIN: We're certainly hopeful and praying. And we are 49 days in now. And today we are very, very hopeful that this -- everything is very fragile. And as we say in English, we don't count hens before they hatch. And I've been saying to everyone I don't count my hostages until they are hugging their loved ones. So I am praying these children and these women get back to their families today and that in these next few days that this deal can progress and that more and more children come home where they belong and start to process this trauma that they have been through. And certainly, I hope and pray that our day will come, and that we will also have our loved one back in our arms.

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POPPY HARLOW, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: John, given the severe injury that Hirsch was kidnapped with, I wonder if you've heard from the Israeli government at all in the past, say, 24 hours ahead of this release, and also from the Red Cross about how they will be preparing for him, hoping that he's released soon to really care for him given what he endured.

JON POLIN, FATHER OF ISRAELI-AMERICAN HOSTAGE HERSH GOLDBERG-POLIN: So, Rachel talked about how fragile this deal is. Part of that is even the information flow we're hearing, basically what you're hearing when it comes to who will be released, it seems quite clear that men are not likely to be part of this first batch.

So, in terms of when he gets home, we don't know anything. And also, in terms of the Red Cross, it's been 49 days. The Red Cross, based on everything we have heard, has not been given any access to the hostages. We hear that access to the hostages is part of this deal, but so much of this is fragile, so much of this is unclear, and we just don't know.

But we are very hopeful that finally, after 49 days, the Red Cross will get in not only to Hersh but to all of the wounded and sick hostages and ensure that they are getting every possible medical treatment that they could get, given the situation.

HARLOW: Let's hope right absolutely, they need that. Rachel, this is the first time we've talked to both of you since you met with the Pope this week, and we have this video that is so touching of you showing a picture of Hirsch to the Pope. Can you speak to what that moment was like?

GOLDBERG: Oh, well, that was actually not me showing a picture of Hirsch to the Pope. That was me showing the video that Anderson Cooper and CNN shared with us of Hersh being kidnapped with his arm blown off, being loaded onto the pickup truck, and that was what I showed him. And that's why you see him kind of exclaim and move his head back because it's a difficult video to watch.

But I wanted him to understand why we were so concerned, in addition to anyone being concerned when their loved one is kidnapped, we were very concerned because we're hopeful that Hersh got treatment, but we have no idea. We're just hopeful that the rumors that we sometimes hear that maybe hostages are treated medically are true, but we have no idea.

Since we haven't had a humanitarian aid organization confirm anything for us.

HARLOW: You bring up that video that Anderson shared with you. I really want people to watch this, this is from the interview when you brought Anderson into your home a couple of weeks ago, and you're showing him Hersh's room. And then we see Hersh's bed and, Rachel, you made bed. Can you tell people why?

GOLDBERG: Yeah, well, I can guarantee you that he never makes his bed looking as nicely as I made his bed looking, and I wanted his bed to be ready for when he does come home, that he has clean sheets and it's just all ready to go for him to just lay down in bed and read the book that he left with the bookmark in it next to his bed.

He's reading a book by the Dalai Lama. I think it's called the art of happiness, and I'd like him to just pick up right where he left off.

HARLOW: Wow, John, it is Friday, and in Jewish homes, you bless your children on Friday night. What is your blessing for Hersh?

POLIN: Well, there's the standard blessing that Jewish traditional parents give their child, and we will continue to do that. And Rachel goes out onto our balcony and screams it to the skies, and we'll do that again in a few hours. Our blessing beyond that one knows, Rachel's mantra has been, "I love you.

Stay strong, survive.", which she says throughout the day to Hirsch and to herself. I've continued to say that I know that he's really strong in character, and really tough mentally, and I know he's going to need or has needed for 49 days every ounce of that strength.

And I'm praying that he's continuing to find the strength to just keep persevering through this. And as soon as he gets home, we will take care of him physically, and mentally, we will get him every bit of help he needs, but we just hope that he's staying strong in there and perseveres to get home to us.

HARLOW: You are both really remarkable, and Hersh is very lucky to have you. Thank you for being with us today.

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GOLDBERG: Thank you for having us.

HARLOW: Of course.

ERICA HILL, CNN NEWS ANCHOR: Love you, stay strong, survive. Well, as we await this moment where we are waiting to see those hostages released, we are also keeping a close eye on Afdah Prison, where they are preparing for the release of Palestinian prisoners. Of course, as part of this deal, the first group of hostages again

expected to be released within the next hour, from Gaza. Senior Advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mark Regev will join us next to discuss the very latest on this hostage release, stay with us.

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KAITLAN COLLINS, CNN ANCHOR: Breaking news this morning as we are learning that Americans are not expected to be included in that first group of 13 hostages being released by Hamas, something that is expected to happen within the next hour and less than an hour by 09:00 AM Eastern time.

A U.S. Official told CNN that they do remain hopeful there will be Americans among the initial group of 50 hostages that are set to be released over the next four days, but right now, not part of this group today. For more on what we do expect, I want to bring in senior advisor to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Mark Regev.

Mr. Regev, thank you for being here. Is that accurate? Is that what you have heard as well, that no Americans are expected to be in this group of 13 released today?

MARK REGEV, SENIOR NETANYAHU ADVISER: I can't go into that, we're under strict instructions not even to hint about the identities of the 13 people that should be released today.

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We're not counting, as the previous one of your guests said, we're not counting our chickens before they're hatched. We won't be saying anything until we actually see who is here in Israel after they've been released, then we'll be releasing the names and all the information necessary. But until it happens, we're waiting.

There's a sense of anticipation, and we know who we're dealing with Hamas. And so, once again, until they're in Israel on their own soil, we're not going to be saying anything.

COLLINS: And is that release still on track, from your understanding, for 04:00 PM, local 09:00 A.m. Eastern?

REGEV: I have no information that is new on that, and I apologize. That is the agreement. And it doesn't matter if you're 80 percent there or 90 percent there. You have to be 100 percent, it's binary, it's either yes or no. Will they be in Israel this afternoon, as has been promised, or will they not? And that's the only important question.

COLLINS: You just mentioned what you can release once they are confirmed to be back. And I think everyone can understand why that information would not be put out there beforehand, because you don't want to jeopardize this deal. But once they are safely back in Israel, if that happens, does Israel plan to announce that, yes, they have returned, they have made it back, and they are safe? REGEV: Correct, that is our intention. The minute they are on Israeli

soil, we will be releasing names and who they are. And you'll be able to publish that, that's obvious. Once they're here and we know that they're safe, then, of course, we can announce who they are. And of course, as you've been reporting on CNN, we have to worry about their medical situation, both from a physical point of view and from a psychological point of view.

Anyone who's been almost 50 days being held hostage. It's obviously a traumatic experience, but think about the young, tender age of some of the people we expect to be released for a child. So, we have to be very careful, we have to make sure that these people get the treatment that they need, as I say, both physical and psychological, that we're working with the loved ones, as you've reported on CNN, to make their landing in Israel as comfortable and as helpful as is possible.

COLLINS: And Mr. Regev, obviously, this is an ongoing process, this is expected to be hostages released each day in exchange for the Palestinian prisoners released each day. We have been watching one of the prisons where we believe some of these Israeli prisoners, and Palestinian prisoners being held in Israel are expected to be released.

When it comes to those daily lists that are being swapped between Israel and Hamas of who is expected to be released the next day, when does Israel expect to get those every day? Is there a certain time period?

REGEV: I think what happened in the past is what we expect to happen in the future. Though I can't guarantee anything in the name of Hamas, of course. We know who we're dealing with, a brutal terrorist organization, so we'll take it as it comes.

However, the understandings reached negotiated with the help of the United States. Specifically, my Prime Minister praised President Biden for his hands-on approach to this. The understanding says over four days, as you've reported, 50 people will be released. This 13 coming today.

That's the commitment, 13 today. That's just the first grouping of the 50. And we must remember that, though we're really happy that we'll see 13 people today, and hopefully in the next four days, the number will reach 50. There's a sadness also because 190 are being left behind.

And who knows what their fate is? And we're worried about them. And I think anyone who is rational would worry about them because Hamas is holding them, and we know what Hamas is capable of. So once again, slowly, with caution ---

COLLINS: We've heard from you because you mentioned the other hostages, and this is important, the Prime Minister said that the Red Cross would be able to go in and tend to the other hostages that are not part of this group that are being released.

There's been some skepticism, I think, over whether or not they're actually going to be able to go in and do that. Is that still part of this agreement, that the Red Cross will be able to go into Gaza to be able to evaluate these other hostages?

REGEV: Well, let's be clear that's the obligation of the International Committee of the Red Cross, that's their job. And if Hamas has not allowed that to happen until now, that's another one of their war crimes. But, yes, that was in the original deal.

I remember that very clearly.

COLLINS: Okay, so we'll see if it does go forward. Based on what you've seen, now that we are 12 hours in.

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