Return to Transcripts main page

CNN This Morning

Israeli Govt. Has List Of Hostages Set For Release Today; 39 Palestinian Prisoners And Detainees Freed On Saturday; Chauvin Attorney Says Prison Refuse To Speak To Him In Wake Of Assault On Ex- Officer In Prison; Accuser Files Lawsuit Against Former NY Governor Andrew Cuomo; Snow In The Plains, Midwest And Rain Set To Hit The East Coast. Aired 6-7a ET

Aired November 26, 2023 - 06:00   ET

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

[06:00:48]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Hello. Welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Sunday, November 26th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN ANCHOR: And I'm Isabel Rosales in for Amara Walker. Good morning and thank you for joining us.

BLACKWELL: We begin this morning in Israel where the families who have good news today have been told that their loved ones will be freed in today's hostage exchange. We are now in day three of this fragile four-day truce between Hamas and Israel. Thirteen Israelis, four Thai nationals were released yesterday but only after an hours-long delay threatened to upend the exchange.

ROSALES: Following medical checks, all of the former hostages were taken to Israeli hospitals for care and to be reunited with their families. An incredibly emotional moment right there. This is Thomas Hand back there in the red vest. He thought his nine-year-old daughter Emily was killed in the Hamas attack. And just look at this moment. Pure joy at finally being able to hug her.

The deal also called for the release of 39 Palestinian prisoners and detainees. Earlier Hamas had stalled on releasing these hostages in a dispute over which Palestinians the Israelis were willing to release.

Aid groups say 187 trucks made it into Gaza Saturday with food, water, fuel, and medical supplies. Though it's only a small fraction of what is needed there. Sixty-one of those trucks reached heavily damaged northern Gaza, the most trucks in one day since the war began.

BLACKWELL: CNN's Larry Madowo is standing by in Cairo. We're going to start, though, with Oren Liebermann in Tel Aviv. Oren, yesterday's exchange delayed for several hour. The president had to get involved and speak with the emir of Qatar. They overcame those challenges. Any signs of what might happen today?

OREN LIEBERMANN, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Well, it shows how fragile this agreement was from the very beginning. The first day of the agreement went fairly smoothly with the exchange of the first 13 Israeli hostages in exchange for 39 Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. The second day not nearly as smoothly.

And as we got to the point where we expected the release of the hostages to begin, there was an hours-long display as there was a dispute about how much aid had gotten into Gaza. Both sides accusing each other of violating the agreement there and the terms of the agreement. It risked the entire agreement falling apart and that would mean risking all the humanitarian aid, risking the release of Israeli hostages, the release of Palestinian prisoners and, of course, this very fragile truce that is held in place for a couple of days now.

The exchange in the end went through and then you saw the videos there of the joyous smiles, unbridled happiness there on the part of Thomas Hand as he held his daughter for the first time in some 50 days. At least as of right now, from where we're standing at this point, it looks like we are on track for the next day of exchange. That is to say more Israeli hostages released in exchange for more Palestinian prisoners.

But as we learned yesterday, that is not certainly not set in stone. Twenty-four hours ago, it still looked like we were going well and all of the challenges began unfolding in the late afternoon. So, we are keenly aware of how fragile the entire agreement is, how critical every stage of this process is as we look forward to the rest of this day.

Israel has said they have received the list of hostages who are set to be released today. Israel will at some point we expect to see them preparing the list of Palestinian prisoners who are set to be released and we'll monitor this as it goes.

Meanwhile, the families of the hostages, some of them have released statements saying that the hostages are -- the freed hostages now are generally in good shape, in good physical condition. The doctors at the hospitals have said that as well. The mental health, that's an entirely different question. And that's where a lot of the recovery effort will focus not only at the hospitals I have had a chance to visit over the past several days but at all the other hospitals that are ready to intake the freed hostages.

BLACKWELL: Oren Liebermann for us there in Tel Aviv, thanks so much. Let's go to Larry Madowo now in Cairo. Larry, a significant increase in the number of trucks carrying in the food and water and medical supplies since this truce began.

[06:05:04]

What do we know about Saturday's numbers and thus far today if anything's made it in or what we should expect?

LARRY MADOWO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: So, Victor, we know that we have seen more trucks coming today from the Egyptian side of the Rafah Crossing. But that doesn't mean all of them will make it into Gaza because it's a painstaking process where they go through an Israeli checkpoint and when they clear that then they go back up to Gaza where they are unloaded and reloaded onto trucks that will take them across the Gaza Strip. So, even though, for instance, we have heard from different sources that 340 trucks have made it in the first two days we don't know that all 340 trucks made it into Gaza. However, the big moment yesterday was 61 trucks made it up to northern Gaza, confirmed by the Palestinian Red Crescent, and that is the largest convoy of humanitarian aid to go up to the Gaza Strip to the northern Gaza part of the strip which is important because it almost derailed the entire deal with Hamas delaying the release of hostages until more aid could leave into northern Gaza.

The background here is the U.N. has warned that there is a risk of dehydration. There's a risk of diseases breaking out with people consuming water from unsafe places. That is why they badly need this amount of humanitarian aid coming in with relief materials, with food, with drinking water, with other medical supplies, the first-aid items and the like that have not gotten in there in the last 50 days of this conflict.

So, it's ramping up significantly. More trucks coming in, 187 total. On Saturday 50 trucks more than got in on Friday. So, if they keep up that momentum, maybe more trucks will come in today and that is a key plank of this framework to release the hostages that was agreed upon with the United States mediated by Qatar and Egypt and which is very important to the Palestinian side because in Hamas displacement scenario where 1.7 million people have been displaced in the last 50 days of this conflict, so many people need so much aid.

That even -- whatever is coming in is not nearly enough. There is a quarter of 200 trucks that's allowed to come in every day, about 130,000 tons of fuel, about four trucks of cooking gas. But that's still not -- just a drop in the ocean because the need is so great and that is why so many aid agencies are calling for an extension of this truce so that more aid can come in.

ROSALES: Yes, that help coming in just a fraction of what is needed in that war-torn area. Larry Madowo, thank you.

All right. Let's head to CNN national security analyst Peter Bergen. Peter, this very public dispute between Israel and Hamas threatened to derail the entire hostage deal. What do you make of this delay in releasing the second group of hostages and is that something to worry about today?

PETER BERGEN, CNN NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: Well, maybe. I mean, Isabel, I think that part of it, you know, this is one of the most complicated set of negotiations you could imagine because you have so many different actors involved. You have the, obviously, the Israelis and the United States involved and also Qatar as a mediator.

Then you have the Hamas political leadership, which is outside of Gaza, in Doha and elsewhere. Then you have the Hamas military leadership, which really controls the hostages. And then you have other groups inside Gaza that may have some of the hostages. There's a smaller terrorist group called Palestinian Islamic Jihad that is supposed to have hostages. And there may even be criminal gangs who have some of these hostages. So, you know, leaving aside the question of the dispute that happened yesterday, this is a very complicated negotiation that could fall apart for other reasons. But, you know, it's heartening that the whole thing was resolved in a matter of a few hours. Obviously, President Biden called the emir of Qatar and that seemed to cleared this up.

So -- but, anyway, the bottom line is that with so many different players at the table -- and, by the way, also Egypt is involved. You really -- it's more complicated than just a negotiation between two parties.

ROSALES: Yes, a lot of cooks in the kitchen. A lot of opportunities there for things to fall apart. What can we expect next in these negotiations? And you mentioned the president, what type of leverage does the U.S. have? What does it bring to the table in getting some things done?

BERGEN: Well, I mean, I think President Biden has seem to be very successful with the Qataris. And the Qataris have a lot of leverage over Hamas because, first of all, the Qataris have sent hundreds of millions of dollars into Gaza over the last several years. Secondly, the Hamas political leadership a lot of them live in Doha. Obviously, that's something they want to continue doing.

And, you know, they kind of speak a kind of common language, obviously, and they have a high degree of trust. So, I think the United States does have leverage with the Qataris and the Qataris do have leverage with Hamas.

ROSALE: Right. And this is such an agonizing wait for so many families out there hoping to hear their relative, the name of their relative being next up to being released. We know that there are 10 Americans, three of which fit the criteria of women and children.

[06:10:02]

One child, four-year-old Abigail, two women that so many are waiting for to hear the news of their release. But for the second time Americans were not part of that release. Why do you think that is?

BERGEN: I mean, I don't know. But I don't think it's accidental. I mean, obviously, the United States is very involved in these negotiations, very much wants Americans back. Hamas understands that Americans are valuable to them. There's a small number of them. And I think they are holding them back for the last possible moment.

And, you know, they will, I think, probably release the women and children, but they will still retain very large numbers of hostages that also include, of course, Israeli soldiers, which will be -- probably be the last group that they would be willing to negotiate for. And they held Gilad Shalit, an Israeli soldier, for five years. And, obviously, they, you know, as he's well known they exchanged him for a thousand Palestinian prisoners. So, you know, Hamas is going to dribble this out and are going to continue -- this is the one piece of -- big leverage that they have and they are not just going to sort of, you know, give it up very easily. ROSALE: Yes. So, in the way you see it perhaps a higher value exchange in the eyes of Hamas, whether that's an Israeli soldier or an American. Now, we heard from Qatari officials that they are hoping the momentum of the past few days will lead to an extension of this temporary truce. Are there any signs pointing to that? How do you see it?

BERGEN: Well, there's certainly a framework of an agreement. I don't know if there are signs pointing to it. But there are certainly -- there is a new agreement that basically with every day where the troops continued another 10 hostages would come out. That's the basic framework of the agreement.

Now, I think it would be in everybody's interest if the truce was extended. Of course, there will be voices in Israel saying the truce went on too long, you know, there was -- one of the sticking points for this deal was that, you know, one side wanted five days of truce and, you know, that was non-negotiable for Israel.

Let's see how this goes because, obviously, the Netanyahu government has its own domestic political pressure to get as many hostages out as possible. So, you could imagine this going for another day or two. But, you know, on the Israeli military side they will want to, you know, resume fighting. So, we will just see how that plays out.

ROSALES: Yes. And Israel has clearly stressed that this is something that is temporary, that they will go back to eradicating Hamas in Gaza when this is all over. When it does end, this truce, what happens to the hostages still in Gaza?

BERGEN: Well, you know, I mean, they will presumably be -- you know, some of them will be in this tunnel system. The interesting thing, Isabel, I think, is that you have got a lot of hostages that came out and of course they will be, you know, a great source of intelligence.

Their view of what happened to them maybe somewhat limited. They may have been blindfolded. For much of those they may be held in tunnels. But nonetheless, there are things that are will be interesting to Israeli intelligence, who else were they being held with, who are they being held by, to the extent that they know, what languages were -- being spoken by their captors.

You know, was there any sense that they were being held by Hamas itself or by some other entity like Palestine Islamic Jihad? What was the overall treatment? Were there Americans being held with them? Who else was being held with them.

There are a bunch of questions that some of these hostages will be able to answer that will be very useful even if they don't have, you know, perfect understanding of their environment and -- because, you know, they were either blindfolded or in tunnels or in prisons. But nonetheless, I think, there will be things that interrogators will -- Israeli intelligence will be able to glean from the, you know, dozens of hostages that are now out that will be useful.

ROSALES: Yes. I am sure those conversations have started already or, if not, they are on their way. Peter Bergen, thank you for your time.

And make sure you check out "INSIDE POLITICS" later this morning. CNN's Wolf Blitzer sits down for an exclusive interview with Israeli President Isaac Herzog. That is at 11:00 Eastern on CNN.

BLACKWELL: And still ahead this morning, more of the conversation about the domestic implications here in the U.S. of this hostage standoff in Gaza. The White House closely monitoring the truce between Israel and Hamas. Their top priority, of course, freeing American hostages. What the president has done, what he can do, and what this means for 2024.

[06:18:50]

BLACKWELL: Well, the White House tells us that President Biden is following developments in this Israel-Hamas hostage negotiation while he is on vacation in Nantucket. After Hamas' announcement of the delay in the deal, as we've said, the president spoke with the emir of Qatar and the Qatari prime minister in an effort to try to resolve the delay.

ROSALES: So far there has been no word on when any American hostages held by Hamas will be released. CNN White House correspondent Arlette Saenz is in Nantucket. Arlette, what was Biden's message to Qatar?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Isabel and Victor. President Biden spent some time on the phone on Saturday morning with the emir of Qatar as well as the Qatari prime minister to try to keep this deal on track. The White House says that he spoke with the two leaders about the possible hurdles that they were facing as there was a delay in the release of hostages on Saturday, and also talking about the mechanisms they could put in place to try to work through them.

A senior White House officials were in touch with counterparts in Israel, Egypt and Qatar throughout the day as they were trying to ensure that this deal -- this release was not delayed or disrupted any further. And it was around 1:30 in the afternoon on Saturday when the White House received word from the Qataris that the release was going forward and the Red Cross was moving in to try to recover these hostages.

[06:20:06]

But really it speaks to the level of engagement President Biden himself has done throughout this negotiation for this hostage release. He has talked about the need to ensure that the implementation went forward according to plan and that is why he jumped on the phone yesterday to try to work through some of these issues.

Now, the coming hours will be critical for the White House as they are anticipating a third release of hostages from Gaza today but there is still no word whether American citizens will be part of that release. They were not part of the release on Friday or Saturday. The White House has said that they were hopeful that three Americans, two women and that young girl, Abigail Edan, four-years-old, that they will be part of this release of that larger group of 50 women and children that were expected to be released in the coming days.

But so far, the White House has been unable to pinpoint an exact day or timeframe that they believe that those people will get out. But Vice President Kamala Harris yesterday spoke to how this is their highest priority at this moment.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

KAMALA HARRIS, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE UNITED STATES: So, we are going to continue to be diligent and vigilant in doing all that we can in that regard to ensure that there is humanitarian aid going in, that hostages are going out, and our highest priority, of course, are the American citizens who are being held.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

SAENZ: Now, earlier this week President Biden said he did not know the conditions of the 10 Americans who are missing, some believed to be hostages, but the White House has said that they will not stop until they get those American hostages back home.

BLACKWELL: Arlette Saenz for us there in Nantucket, before a beautiful sunrise there in Massachusetts. Thank you so much for that.

Joining us now, CNN political analyst Julian Zelizer, also a presidential historian. We're going to lean on those historian bona fides in just a moment. But let's start with what we learned about this call between the president, the emir of Qatar, the Qatari prime minister.

The president here has influence certainly, but he is not -- this is not a U.S. war. This is Israel's war with Hamas. Netanyahu is making the political and military calls here. How much does that complicate or confine the president's situation?

JULIAN ZELIZER, CNN POLITICAL ANALYST: Very much. Meaning this is a situation where the president is very engaged, very involved, trying to negotiate, but ultimately there are limits to how much he or U.S. foreign policy makers can control the situation. So, every deal, every potential breakthrough can come apart within hours and within days in a way that's different than had this been a direct U.S. military conflict.

BLACKWELL: The U.S. has been supporting Israel financially since the Truman administration, $130 billion, according to the White House. Are you seeing the degree of influence that one would expect that the U.S. would have over on decisions that Netanyahu and his government are making?

ZELIZER; Well, this is an old story, meaning a long running story of U.S. support. The support does allow the United States to have a degree of influence for sure, but there are still limits. I mean, Israel is a country with its own interests. And so, everything won't always converge, and this happens with all sorts of alliances, and it poses a really kind of difficult challenge in a moment like this for President Biden. BLACKWELL: Let's talk about the history here. And first, let me start with former President Trump. He's highlighting social media -- on social media that no Americans have been released by Hamas. We are still waiting for the list on day three. But the first two days no Americans.

Former President Trump writes, there is only one reason for that. No respect for our country or our leadership. This is a very sad and dark period of America. 1979 Iran hostage lasted through the 1980 election, ended on Reagan's inauguration. Does that inform this as we put this in a political context?

ZELIZER: Well, politically, I'm surprised it took the former president this long to use that comparison. That was devastating to President Carter. Ultimately, President Carter negotiated a deal that ends after Ronald Reagan is inaugurated. And certainly, Republicans, Trump and others, will start making this argument because it presents an image of a president who can't achieve his goals.

But this is very different. This is folded into a much broader war and conflict. And in the end, it might be a little more like Lebanon and the hostages in the 1980s which was a major problem, but ultimately didn't define Ronald Reagan's presidency.

[06:25:09]

BLACKWELL: Yes. And again, as you pointed out, this lasted all the way until Reagan took the oath. We don't know how long this hostage situation will continue. We are still a year out from the election. But historically, does this type of crisis at this point have an influence a year out? I mean, how long, I guess I'm asking, is the American electorate memory as it relates to something like this?

ZELIZER: It's short and it's shorter than it used to be, and we know that the news moves on quickly and so does American attention. But it still plays a part in how Americans perceive the efficacy of a president. And so, even though in the end Americans might vote on their pocketbooks, bread and butter kinds of issues, the way that President Biden handles this, I believe, will be a part of the larger portrait that voters take with them for better or worse going into the ballot box on Election Day.

BLACKWELL: There was significant pressure from the president's party. We showed here on the show, Congresswoman Rashida Tlaib who put on her social media that the American people will not forget that President Biden supported genocide, the criticism of not calling for a ceasefire. Does this truce alleviate any of the intraparty pressure on the president, and does it last beyond the truce?

ZELIZER: It might alleviate it, but that is short term. As we said when this started, this is a situation that's very much in progress. The war doesn't seem like it will be ending soon, and the U.S. doesn't really control what happens next. And so, this might alleviate, but those tensions are very real, and I suspect they will continue to be a part of what President Biden has to navigate right through Election Day as other Democrats will. BLACKWELL: Julian Zelizer, good to see you on a Sunday morning. Thank you.

ZELIZER: Thank you.

BLACKWELL: Make sure to tune in to "STATE OF THE UNION" this morning. Dana Bash will be joined by National Security Advisor Jake Sullivan as well as Israel's ambassador to the U.S. Michael Herzog. That's coming up at 9:00 Eastern right here on CNN.

ROSALES: Right now, the truce is holding. Dozens of hostages and prisoners have been released, but this war is far from over. We're going to take a step back and look at how we got here. That's up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: So, this fragile truce between Israel and Hamas is now in day three as the names of a third group of hostages expected to be released today have been received by the Israeli government.

ROSALES: The war between Hamas and Israel has raged for nearly two months following Hamas's October 7th attack on Israel. CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson breaks down the timeline of how the war progressed to this point.

(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR (voiceover): Minutes after leaving the plane in Tel Aviv --

ROBERTSON: The sirens have gone off. People are taking cover. We got off the bus. People are taking cover. And you can hear the intercept missiles banging in the air.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): It's October 7th, 14 hours since Hamas's attack began. No one knew what to expect. A few hours later, three and a half miles from Gaza --

ROBERTSON: It's Iron Dome being fired up all around us right now. It's illuminating the sky here. The bangs are the Iron Dome intercepting rockets that are being fired from Gaza just a couple of miles away.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): The coming days reveal Hamas's horrors. More than 1200 dead.

ROBERTSON: Look at all these shell casings that are scattered around on the ground here. This gives you an indication of the intensity of the firefight.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): More than 300 at the Nova Music Festival. A rocket shelter there where some were mercilessly killed in cold blood had the biggest impact. Six weeks later, we happened to be passing as Israel's recovery specialists cleaned it out.

ROBERTSON: This is bringing back a lot of painful and difficult memories. The last time I was here six weeks ago, it was still full of human flesh and remains. And I'm looking inside, and it seems worse. The grenade splatter, the gunshots that are in the wall here, they're bigger. They're worse. I'm just looking at it. That night -- I was really emotionally beaten by what I saw here. I don't know, it's clean. But I don't think I'll ever forget it and that feeling.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): Equally unforgettable, the scale of suffering and death inside Gaza, an average of 2,000 people a week killed. Two- thirds of them women, children, and the elderly, the worst I've ever witnessed are covering a war.

My only access to Gaza with the IDF revealing an apocalyptic landscape where every building appears crushed, collapsed, shot up, burnt, or blown apart. Nothing untouched by the war. Destruction on a scale I've never encountered before.

ROBERTSON: More rockets coming out. More rockets coming out. Guys, more rockets coming out.

[06:35:04]

ROBERTSON (voiceover): For weeks from a balcony a mile from Gaza, witnessing the destruction, explosion by explosion, day after day. As the IDF followed political orders to destroy Hamas.

ROBERTS: Rockets, guys! Rockets!

ROBERTSON (voiceover): And Hamas emerging to fire rockets back. Through these long weeks, talking to with families of hostages, hearing their pain.

JONATHAN DEKEL-CHEN, FATHER OF HOSTAGE: It's excruciating. We don't know if he's healthy or wounded. We know nothing.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): And sharing difficult moments.

ALIZA SAMUEL, OCTOBER 7 ATTACKS SURVIVOR: It's not going to be easy --

ROBERTSON: Guys, sirens!

ROBERTSON (voiceover): With victims returning to where Hamas attacked them.

SAMUEL: They were lined up and they were -- I saw one of my friends. She was begging for her life.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): So, what next? Ceasefire, hostage release, maybe. But it won't be all hostages and the hold in fighting is unlikely to last. Israel fears Hamas will exploit the pause to regroup. Hamas will do whatever it takes to survive, including not handing over all the hostages.

Israel vows to completely destroy Hamas and release the hostages. A tactic show fighting Hamas is the priority and is far from finish. The implication, judged watching the past six weeks, for some hostage families, more days and more weeks of agonizing wait. For Gaza's besieged civilians, continuing misery. Gaza is still cut off from the world. The vast majority of his 2.2

million citizens, displaced, crowded in the southern end of the enclave. Humanitarian access on a scale to match the scope of their need is absent. Israel vows to rout Hamas there too. Most of Gaza's hospitals are out of action. International pressure on Israel is mounting.

ANTONIO GUTERRES, SECRETARY GENERAL, UNITED NATIONS: We are witnessing a killing of civilians that is unparalleled and unprecedented in any conflict since I am Secretary General.

ROBERTSON (voiceover): The only concrete certainties today, in Gaza rebuilding what is destroyed will take years. And in Israel, that no one will feel safe until Hamas is gone.

Nic Robertson, CNN, Sderot, Israel.

(END VIDEOTAPE)

BLACKWELL: Still to come, relief for dozens of Palestinian families, 39 prisoners and detainees freed and backed with their families as part of this latest exchange. All of them, women and teenagers.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

ROSALES: Palestinians are celebrating the return of their loved ones who were either jailed or detained by Israel.

BLACKWELL: Another 39 Palestinians, mostly women and teenage boys were released yesterday. CNN's Nada Bashir reports the former prisoners and detainees received a big, warm welcome in the occupied West Bank.

NADA BASHIR, CNN REPORTER: For yet another night, the crowds have gathered to show their support and welcome the release of Palestinian prisoners and detainees who have been released as part of that truce agreement between Israel and Hamas.

Today, we have seen some 39 prisoners and detainees released. Among them 33 minors, children under the age of 18. Many of them held under administrative detention, meaning no clear charges were laid against them, no ongoing legal process. And throughout the day, we've seen families waiting anxiously to find out whether or not their loved ones would be listed in the 39 released on Saturday.

We managed to catch up with the Tamimi family who are waiting to find out whether or not 17-year-old Wissam would be released. And of course, we have now seen their utter relief to find out that their son has now been released after being held under administrative detention.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

WISSAM TAMIMI, RELEASED PALESTINIAN DETAINEE (through translator): It's an indescribable feeling. We thank God. He brought us out of the place we were in. It's a relief. Praise be to God.

HUNAIDA TAMIMI, WISSAM'S MOTHER (through translator): I can't describe how I feel. I seriously can't believe it. I'm in a dream. My son is with me. Praise be to God. And God willing, every mother will find my joy. God willing. I can't say anymore. May God spread joy to all the Palestinian people. May God grant them happiness. That is it. We want to smile and laugh. Thank God.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

BASHIR: Now, over the course of this four-day truce, we are expecting to see a total of 150 prisoners and detainees at least released as part of that exchange agreement between Israel and Hamas. And there are many families still hopeful that they will see their loved ones released as part of this agreement.

But we've been speaking to many families, many locals here who say that while they are happy and have welcomed the release of their loved ones of many of their friends and neighbors, their happiness is subdued. They tell us that they have paid a heavy price for the release of these detainees and prisoners referencing the war in Gaza and the mounting civilian death toll that we have seen in the Gaza Strip.

But of course, this is a very delicate, very fluid situation. And it remains to be seen whether or not the terms of that truce are upheld over the next few days, whether we will continue to see these Palestinian prisoners and detainees release, and of course, whether we continue to see the safe return of Israeli hostages currently held captive by Hamas in Gaza.

Nada Bashir, CNN.

[06:45:36]

ROSALES: So had seven calls and no response. The attorney for ex- Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin who was convicted of killing George Floyd says he has been ignored by the prison where his client was attacked on Friday. The latest on that situation. That's up next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[06:50:04]

BLACKWELL: The ex-Minneapolis police officer who murdered George Floyd is in stable condition this morning. He was attacked in prison.

ROSALES: The state attorney general's office says that Derek Chauvin was stabbed at the federal prison in Tucson, Arizona where he's been serving out his sentence. His attorney says he has not spoken to Chauvin since the attack. CNN's Carlos Suarez has more.

CARLOS SUAREZ, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Victor and Isabel, good morning. As Derek Chauvin continues to recover from his injuries, his attorney tells CNN that he's called the prison officials seven times to get more information about the stabbing.

Now, according to the attorney, prison officials have refused to speak to him and they have not reached out to Chauvin's parents. It is important to note that CNN has reached out to these prison officials about these allegations and we have not heard back.

Now, according to Minnesota Attorney General Keith Ellison, whose office prosecuted Chauvin, Chauvin is in stable condition at a hospital. The stabbing happened at a medium security facility in Tucson, Arizona Friday afternoon.

Now, prison officials really haven't said much about the incident other than to say that life-saving measures were used and that none of their employees were hurt. Chauvin is serving over 20 years for state and federal charges for George Floyd's murder.

Now, when asked why he thought this attack took place, Chauvin's attorney told CNN, "There is a huge portion of the inmate population that wants to make a name for themselves by killing him.

Victor and Isabel?

ROSALES: That is Carlos Suarez. Thank you.

A former aide to ex-New York Governor Andrew Cuomo who previously claimed he groped her has now filed a lawsuit against him. Brittany Commisso is alleging sexual harassment and abuse. According to court documents, Commisso filed suit on Wednesday.

BLACKWELL: Cuomo is one of several high-profile men sued recently under the state's Temporary Adults Survivors Act. It's just before the law expires on Thursday -- or expired rather on Thursday. It allowed survivors to sue even if the statute of limitations had run out.

CNN's Polo Sandoval has more from New York.

POLO SANDOVAL, CNN CORRESPONDENT: New York's former governor being sued under the New York Adult Survivors Act, that law that temporarily opened up a litigation window allowing some sex offense survivors to effectively take their alleged abusers to court regardless of the statute of limitations on their cases.

Andrew Cuomo's former aide, Brittany Commisso, she's accusing him of sexual harassment among other allegations according to a summon that was filed in Albany County Supreme Court. That filing typically precedes a formal complaint. In this particular case, Commisso claims that Cuomo subjected her to unwelcome sexual advances and inappropriate touching that she believed she had to endure in order to keep her job.

The suit further claims that Commisso was retaliated against not only for rejecting then-governor's advances, but also for reporting them as well. Cuomo, for his part, has repeatedly denied Commisso's claims. In fact, recently his attorney referred to this lawsuit as a "cash grab." And her attorney also writing, Ms. Commisso's claims are the provably false, which is why the Albany District Attorney dismissed the case two years ago after a thorough investigation.

Cuomo's attorney referring to a forcible touching complaint against her client who was dismissed in 2022 after prosecutors determined that though the complaint was credible, it lacked sufficient evidence to be able to take it to court.

Polo Sandoval, CNN, New York.

BLACKWELL: 16 million people are under winter alerts this morning from the Plains to the Midwest. And the timing is awful because this is a really busy travel day. People are heading home after Thanksgiving.

ROSALES: Well, heavy rain could develop along the East Coast from Florida to Maine over the next 24 hours. Meteorologist Elissa Raffa is tracking all of it for us. Good morning, Elisa. What can folks expect out there if they got to hit the roads or the skies?

ELISSA RAFFA, CNN METEOROLOGIST: Yes, good morning. We're looking at some dangerous travel conditions, especially where you see some of these purples on the map. It's a winter weather advisory across parts of northern Missouri and then headed into Chicago where one to three inches of snow is possible.

Plus, we have some lake effect warnings for even more snow. The radar right now this morning has been pretty busy. You've got snow showers from St. Louis up to Chicago. Rain stretching down to the Gulf Coast. All of this spreads East today looking at some travel delays from St. Louis, Chicago, Detroit, with all of that snow.

Then as the rain starts to spread eastward, we could be looking at some delays from New York and Boston by tonight and into tomorrow. Some of that rain could be locally, heavy at times, and you could see some of that snow continuing to pump going into Monday, which could continue to bring you some travel issues for parts of the Northeast.

So, here are some of these totals. Again, about an inch or two of snow up towards Chicago. Some of that rain could be heavy on the panhandle of Florida. And then I want to bring your attention to some of these snow conditions off of the Great Lakes. Lake effect snow is going to really kick behind this front. As the winds shift behind the front, colder air is going to rush across these relatively warmer lakes. That cold air then picks up the moisture from the lake and dumps snow for some of these communities like Erie, Buffalo, and Watertown.

I mean, we're talking about accumulating snow up into feet here, could be looking at 12 to 18 inches of snow just north there in Cleveland, Erie. Buffalo as well up to a foot of snow possible there. And then up in the tug hill, that lake effect core of the U.S., you've got Watertown there with some totals over two feet possible.

So, again, some pretty dangerous conditions as we start the work week after Thanksgiving. That cold arctic air really settles in. You're looking at some below-average temperatures for cities like New York and Boston through a lot of the week.

BLACKWELL: And that is your first CNN forecast.

ROSALES: Her debut.

BLACKWELL: Yes.

ROSALES: Elissa, welcome.

BLACKWELL: We've got plenty to talk about today. I mean, I can only imagine if it's like, oh, sunshine everywhere. Back to you. That's my welcome in. But you have something to talk about.

RAFFA: And I'm excited to be here.

BLACKWELL: All right, good to have you. Thanks so much.

Still ahead, hundreds of families, they are waiting anxiously to find out if their loved ones will be included in the group of hostages released today. We are live in Israel. We'll follow the latest developments. That's next.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:00:00]