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Macron Hosts Biden And First Lady For Official Statement; Four Israeli Hostages Rescued In Gaza Military Operation; Israel Defense Forces: Four Israeli Hostages Rescued In Gaza Military Operation; Macron Hosts Biden And First Lady For Official State Visit. Aired 7-8a ET

Aired June 08, 2024 - 07:00   ET

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

[07:01:13]

VICTOR BLACKWELL, CNN ANCHOR: Good morning, welcome to CNN THIS MORNING. It is Saturday, June 8th. I'm Victor Blackwell.

AMARA WALKER, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Amara Walker. Thank you so much for being with us this morning. We begin with President Biden on his state visit portion of his trip to France. We want to show you live pictures of Biden with French President Macron, Emmanuel Macron, at the welcome parade ceremony at the Arc de Triomphe as he waved to the crowds there who have gathered.

Moments ago, President Biden and Macron surveyed the troops and laid a wreath under the ark at the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier. Now, both leaders are expected to attend a working lunch following the ceremony before giving statements to the press in just a few hours from now.

BLACKWELL: Then, Macron will welcome the President and First Lady for a state dinner. The close ties between the U.S. and France are on full display today as the President, President Biden, continues to push his message of saving democracy and freedom after his D-Day anniversary speech on Friday. Let's go to Paris now with CNN Senior White House Correspondent, Kayla Tausche.

Presidents Biden and Macron are expected to hold some talks today over this working lunch. Hit the high points. What will they be addressing in the meetings?

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, there are going to be a few topics of discussion that will figure prominently. First, how they can strengthen the NATO alliance, how they can continue supporting Ukraine, and how they can secure the Indo-Pacific with President Macron not willing to be quite as hawkish toward China as President Biden has been thus far.

But there will be some cooperation, some maritime cooperation that the two countries are set to announce. President Macron is also expected to share his thoughts on how President Biden is handling the situation in Gaza, where he has broken with the president's position of seeking a negotiated peace process to reach a two-state solution.

Macron has said that he is ready to recognize a Palestinian state, and there has been frustration here in France over the civilian casualties and the humanitarian toll that's been exacted in Gaza as Israel has prosecuted its war against Hamas. The administration has said that President Biden expects a frank and open discussion, one that's candid, and expects that there may be some areas of disagreement there.

But despite those areas of disagreement, both on the handling of the situation in Gaza, as well as a high-profile break between the two allies a few years ago over a submarine partnership that France was excluded from. Administration aides say that the allies have never been closer, that their relationship has not been weakened in any ways by those fractures.

Remember, state visits are reserved for only the closest of allies. And the White House has taken note that France is the U.S.'s oldest ally. And certainly, those leaders standing shoulder to shoulder on those issues, projecting this image of strength and partnership to the world is one of the main goals of this state visit that's happening today. So, that will be really the scope of this state visit.

You mentioned the press statements that will be happening later this afternoon. There has been some frustration that when President Macron visited the U.S. for a state visit at the White House, there was a press conference that was conducted between the two democracies with two questions from members of each country's press corps.

That is not happening this week. There will be a press conference at the G7, but there will not be one at this visit, which has been a source of frustration for some here in the press corps that we will not have an opportunity to ask questions of the leaders here.

All that to say, there will be pomp, there will be circumstance -- there will be pomp, there will be just a lot of majesty and magnanimous things that you will see today if that arrival ceremony is any indication of what remains in the day to come. Victor and Amara.

[07:05:00]

WALKER: Yes, it continues to be one spectacular welcoming ceremony. Kayla Tausche, good to have you. Thank you very much.

Let's talk with CNN Military Analyst, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling, and CNN International Diplomatic Editor Nic Robertson, and Max Boot who is a Senior Fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and Columnist for the Washington Post. Max is the author of the new book, "Reagan: His Life and Legend."

Welcome to you all. Max, let's start with you. And as both leaders head eventually to this working lunch, talk to me about, you know, how you would characterize Biden and Macron's relationship. Obviously, there are political calculations at play as well. And in the back or I should say front of Macron's mind, he has to be thinking about the potential return of Trump to the White House?

MAX BOOT, CNN GLOBAL AFFAIRS ANALYST: And I would say that Presidents Biden and Macron have a very good relationship. And as you say, I think Macron is very happy to have Joe Biden in the White House rather than having to deal with placating Donald Trump.

But I think the, you know, the anecdote that Joe Biden often tells us how that when he first came back into office and met with Macron, and he said, you know, America is back and Macron and others said, but for how long? And I think that's the shadow of Trump hangs over all of this.

And of course, but even though Biden and Trump and Macron do have a good relationship, they do have a lot of things to discuss, including Macron's proposal to send French trainers into Ukraine or is suggesting that they could be sent into Ukraine, which is something that Biden has expressed doubts about or suggested is not a good idea.

So, I think there are things for them to hash over, but mainly, I think this is just a wonderful moment of transatlantic unity to highlight how close the alliance is under Biden and how greatly endangered it would be if Trump were to come back into office.

BLACKWELL: General Hertling, as Kayla mentioned, Gaza and Israel's war with Hamas will certainly be something discussed today. There was the IDF operation that happened at a refugee camp that freed four Israeli hostages. Some of the concerns here around the ICC seeking an arrest warrant for Netanyahu. While Paris backs that, Washington called it outrageous, the backing and supplying of weapons. How significant are these differences on Gaza, on support for Israel between these two?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING, CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Well, I'll chime in with what Max just said, Victor, and that is they are certainly -- there is certainly a close relationship between President Biden and President Macron, but they do have some differences. President Macron has been very vocal in making pronouncements about different things. He has supported different things than President Biden has.

So, you know, while their relationship is very close and they see democracy, and the emotions of what has occurred over this last week as being similar, they do have some differences of opinion. And I heard you earlier talking about the lunches and the dinners that will occur today, certainly, presidents and dignitaries do a lot of eating and drinking for their country, but this is a time for them to hash out some of those disagreements, some of those differences of opinions.

I think President Biden is going to state very succinctly what he believes should be happening in Gaza and in Ukraine and how the NATO alliance should move forward. So, that's what these dinners and lunches are all about, outside the view of the kind of pomp and circumstances we saw this morning at the Arc de Triomphe.

WALKER: General Hertling, I just want to follow up on that regarding these differences and specifically on Ukraine. We heard on Friday President Biden apologized to Volodymyr Zelenskyy about the delayed aid. President Biden obviously blamed Republicans for that.

But after Mr. Zelenskyy thanked the president for that decision to allow U.S. arms to be used in a limited way, you know, to counter attacks inside Russia, he added, "There are some details on the battlefield that you need to hear from us." I heard a bit of frustration there in Zelenskyy's tone then. What do you think he's referring to? Obviously, he's referring to these restraints.

HERTLING: Well, what President Zelenskyy was likely talking about was the Ukrainian targeting processes, Amara. President Biden has specifically said that these long-range weapons should be used for an operational and tactical role. What does that mean?

An operational or tactical deep strike using things like attack arms and artillery pieces and potentially even jet fighters has to do with what can affect the frontlines, what kinds of things are ready by Russia to literally attack into the Ukrainian defensive positions.

[07:10:10]

Now, there's a difference of opinion in terms of military leaders saying what you have to do is not only do deep strikes against those tactical targets, but what Russia continues to do is push their forces further and further back from the front lines so that they are not under Ukrainian attack capabilities.

So, that's what I think President Zelenskyy is going to talk about. How far inland can we hit? Can we hit air bases that are launching some of the glide bombs? Can we launch -- or can we attack missile launch sites so that some of our cities don't continue to come under attack?

The problem with all that is many of those Russian launch sites and air bases are deep within Russian territory and cause concerns from Russia about attacks within their federation that could interfere with, say, their nuclear defense strip. They have put that forward, saying, hey, our radars for nuclear and strategic defenses have been interfered with by Ukraine.

So, we're saying that that is truly an attack on mother Russia, and this is what President Biden wants to avoid, primarily for the purpose of this war not expanding into a greater European war with other nations involved.

BLACKWELL: You're watching the procession, parade procession, here along the Champs-Elysees. President Biden and Macron are riding there together, as indicated by the flags on the front of that vehicle. We have Max Boot and Lieutenant General Hertling with us.

Max, let me come to you. And General Hertling says that this is the time to hash those things out, some of those differences. Do you expect that there will be decisions, that there will be resolutions to any of these differences today, or will there just be further discussions?

BOOT: I'm suspecting there will be further discussions, but I mean, I think these, as Mark Hertling said, I mean, I think these kinds of discussions are very important because normally these discussions are conducted at the staff level or with foreign ministers.

It's I think, it is very important to have the heads of state directly involved and this is going to -- these kinds of occasions are the time when the heads of state have the most amount of time to spend with one another. As Mark Hertling mentioned, there's going to be a lot of lunches, a lot of dinners, a lot of, you know, ceremonial occasions.

But while all that is going on, they can also have very substantive talks. And of course, some of the stuff they're going to talk about is going to be the kind of stuff anybody talks about at lunch or dinner. It's going to be, there's going to be some polite chitchat, but I think they will also get to some of the nitty gritty and try to hash these things out.

But I think, you know, I think the big thing that Macron and other Europeans are going to be looking for is something that Biden really can't offer, which is reassurance. They want reassurance that the United States will stay committed in Europe, that we will remain committed to the defense of Europe. We will remain staunch and standing up for Ukraine and opposing Russian aggression.

And, of course, the best that Biden can say is that's what I want to do. But I don't -- you know, we have free and fair elections in America. And if, if I, Joe Biden, lose in November, everybody knows that they could have, we could have a very different policy come January 20th of next year.

And so, you know, I think there is just, there's going to be a lot of handholding as well as a lot of hand wringing about the outcome of the political process in the United States.

WALKER: And because President Biden will not be able to give that reassurance, right, that he will remain in office for another term. Nic Robertson, to you standing by, you know, do you expect President Macron to be even more vocal, I guess, more aggressive, you know, as the election, American election approaches, as he's been pushing for the continent's self-reliance, to take its own security, collective defense more seriously?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: Absolutely. I think this is exactly the direction that Europe is headed in now, because it recognizes that if not now, in the future it may face those decisions, and not every country is ready for it. Far from it, in fact.

You have some real outliers in the European Union right now, like Viktor Orban, the Prime Minister in Hungary, or Robert Fico, the Prime Minister in Slovakia, who are both pro-Putin, who are both against Europe supporting, or the European Union financially, militarily supporting Ukraine.

This is sort of the headwinds in Europe, at least, that President Macron faces. Of course, what he has been talking about and France has talked about for some time is a more united defense policy in Europe where you become in a same, more similar to the United States in terms of manufacturing armaments.

You only have a few fighter jets. You know, you have the F-16, you have the F-15, you have the F-35. In Europe, there are many, many different arms manufacturers, and they produce for their nations or a handful of nations within the European Union.

[07:15:25]

A commonality of, of, of, of armament making, which is really the pressure that faces NATO right now in terms of getting armaments in big enough quantities quickly to Ukraine, that you can do this better by rationalizing a pan-European defense industry. And of course, each country wants to have a big slice of that.

But this is the direction that Macron has encouraged European leaders to look at in the past, and one that would potentially where the European Union, which doesn't have a common defense minister, let's say, it has a head of foreign policy. Josep Borrell at the moment, but it doesn't have a head of defense in the same way.

That is something that NATO does. But if the United States didn't support NATO in the way that it does today, then that would fall to the European Union. So, Macron really has been a sort of a leader and a pusher for that within Europe. And it's, you know, even his strongest partner, perhaps, in the European Union in this regard would be Germany.

Their position is not the same as Macron's. So, it is an uphill struggle, but it is something that absolutely they face, and we heard this when President Trump first came into office. If you go back those years, there was an emergency summit European Union leaders in Malta, I believe it was, and it was back then.

Francois Hollande, the French President, and the German Chancellor back then Merkel, Angela Merkel, who were both saying we need to sort ourselves out and be ready to be able to deal with an isolationist United States. So, the conversations are well underway.

WALKER: All right. We'll leave the conversation there. Our thanks to Mark Hertling, Max Boot, and Nic Robertson. Make sure to stay with us. We'll have more after this break.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:22:12]

WALKER: We're following breaking news out of Israel where the IDF says it has rescued four hostages who were taken from the Nova Music Festival on October 7th. Now, among the freed hostages is Noa Argamani. In one of the first Hamas videos released of the massacre, she was seen being abducted on a motorcycle.

BLACKWELL: We're joined now by CNN International Correspondent Paula Hancocks and CNN International Correspondent Ben Wedeman.

Paula, first to you, what do you know about the operation?

PAULA HANCOCKS, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: Well, Victor, what we're hearing is from the IDF, the Israeli military, also the security agency saying it was a joint operation that happened in Central Gaza, in the area of Nuseirat. It was a significant operation which at this point we understand has left at least 45 killed on the ground and hundreds injured according to our CNN producer on the ground.

But what it has also meant is that four Israeli hostages have been rescued and they have been brought back to Israel. Now, according to this statement, they say that they are in good medical condition. They have been taken to a medical center near Tel Aviv to receive treatment. At this point, we have already seen video of one of the hostages that you just mentioned there, Noa Argamani, receiving a phone call from the Israeli President Herzog.

But there are four that have been released. So, Noa Argamani, who, as we remember we did see her on the back of a motorbike being taken at the Nova Musical Festival on October 7th. Also, Andrei Kozlov, a 27- year-old, he's a Russian-Israeli citizen, who was working security at that musical festival. Also, Shlomi Siv, a 40-year-old, he was also working security, and Almog Meir Jan, a 21-year-old. So, four hostages have been released at this point.

We understand from the IDF that they are all in medical condition. This was Saturday morning that this was happening, and it was described by the IDF, the police, and the ISA as a complex special daytime operation in Nuseirat. It is the third successful operation that the Israeli military has carried out since October 7th to try and retrieve some of those, those hostages that were taken on October 7th by Hamas, by other militant groups.

We understand there was one in October, one in February, three released jointly during those operations there. But that's the latest that we have at this point from the Israeli military side.

BLACKWELL: Right, four Israeli hostages rescued in that operation. Paula, thank you. Let's go to Ben Wedeman now. And Ben, we were talking just a few minutes ago about this being the day that Benny Gantz, a key member of the Prime Minister's war cabinet, was expected to announce whether he would go through with his vow to leave the Israeli government, that announcement has now been postponed. Is it directly connected to this operation that freed these hostages?

BEN WEDEMAN, CNN INTERNATIONAL CORRESPONDENT: We think so. I mean, he clearly does not want to steal the limelight with this one bit of good news for the Israelis. His problems, his issues with Prime Minister Netanyahu have not been resolved. They have fundamental differences. They were political rivals in the past.

So, that doesn't change. But I think for now, he's not cancelling, probably not cancelling his announcement, but he certainly is going to postpone it while Israelis digest this news. I mean, keep in mind, as Paula was mentioning, back in, what was it, October and February, between those two, three hostages were released. Today, four.

That brings to seven. Seven hostages released after eight months of intense warfare in the Gaza Strip. Keeping in mind, of course, that what was much more successful at getting hostages released was that ceasefire in late November of last year, where, if I recall correctly, at least 40 hostages were released.

So, certainly, what we've seen since that very brief eight-day ceasefire, that the military operations have continued and have today had some success, but until now, it hasn't really resulted in much other than, as I said, just seven hostages released. In the meantime, we've had more than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed. Victor, Amara.

[07:27:14]

BLACKWELL: We're showing you a video here of the two of the hostages that are coming off that helicopter and going on to, I believe, that's a medical transport vehicle, one hand over his mouth, the other throwing his arms up in the air. We also saw a video of a celebration in the streets at the news of the rescue of four hostages from this refugee camp.

As we get more pictures in, this moment that so many families, those who are related to these hostages and those who are not have hoped for, rallied for, protested for to get these people who were now eight months, eight months since the October 7th attack.

WALKER: Almost to the day.

BLACKWELL: Almost to the day have been held as hostages in Gaza.

WALKER: What a moment to watch as these freed hostages walked off that military helicopter. Just incredible moments there. We're going to leave it there. Paula Hancocks and Ben Wedeman, thank you so much. We're going to take a quick break. Back after this.

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

[07:32:56]

WALKER: Back to our "BREAKING NEWS" now, the IDF says it has rescued four hostages who were taken from the Nova music festival on October 7.

BLACKWELL: Let's bring back CNN military analyst, Lieutenant General Mark Hertling and Max Boot.

General, first to you. This successful rescue, and we've learned that this is from two separate locations. This is what the IDF says. Would this have had to have been on specific intelligence that led them to these locations to find these hostages?

LT. GEN. MARK HERTLING (RET.), CNN MILITARY ANALYST: Yes. Absolutely, Victor. There were -- the other thing I'd comment on, the hostages were near the Nuseirat refugee camp, which is in northwestern -- more the center part of Gaza, while the operations in Rafah continue, you -- this makes it very clear that operations across the Gaza Strip, in these, specifically the underground subterranean facilities, the tunnels that Hamas has built underneath different infrastructure is what's been critical.

So, yes, the intelligence is what drove this, I'm sure. This wasn't just stumbling upon for different hostages in two different locations. This has to be an intelligence driven operation, which the Israeli and military has been trying to do since the start of this campaign.

WALKER: And Max, into you, I mean, what is -- what does this mean for the hostage and ceasefire negotiations that are ongoing, also knowing that Benny Gantz, a Cabinet minister, will now -- he postponed his announcement of resignation, apparently, due to the release of -- the rescue of these hostages.

Does this increase pressure on Netanyahu to bring more of the hostages home?

BOOT: Well, obviously, it's very good news to get these hostages out. You know, I think, Netanyahu has actually been fairly receptive to the latest ceasefire plan, which is being pushed by the Biden administration and a -- and a coalition of other nations.

I think the holdup right now is Hamas.

[07:35:00]

They are not agreeing to that plan, because basically, the Hamas leadership thinks that -- seems to think that it doesn't matter how many Palestinians are killed or how much the people of Gaza suffer, because as long as the Hamas leadership and some of the fighters are secure on these underground tunnels, they can still hold out, and essentially come out after the Israeli military retreats.

And I think they -- so, I wouldn't be -- unfortunately, I wouldn't be that optimistic about an immediate ceasefire coming, because these negotiations have been going on for many months, and have got -- not gone anywhere.

And I think, for Israel, they still face some very difficult issues, namely, what happens, you know, in the months ahead. They don't want to occupy the Gaza Strip. But then, the question is, who is going to bring security to that area? What is the day after look like, and that's something where Netanyahu has still refused to provide any kind of vision, because it would be too political difficult -- politically difficult for him, because his coalition partners don't want any role for the Palestinian Authority.

And, at the same time, there is very little support for actually having the IDF occupy the Gaza Strip. And so, you know, this doesn't really solve Israel's intractable problems, unfortunately, and I'm sorry to say, it doesn't mean that the offensive is going to wind down anytime soon.

BLACKWELL: And General, he didn't answer the questions. It doesn't resolve any of those issues. But I wonder as we look at this video of hostages who are free and the celebration in the streets, politically, how much time does this by Netanyahu relief from pressure both domestically with the pending guns, resignation, and the pressure from the U.S. and other allies around the world?

HERTLING: Well, I don't think it's going to gain a whole lot of time, internationally, Victor. It certainly will gain some time domestically from Mr. Netanyahu, because he has a lot of supporters in the Israeli government.

I'd like to point out though, one thing that our great reporter Ben Wedeman mentioned, you know, he said the last big tranche of hostages occurred after the cessation of hostilities several months ago, and there hasn't been that kind of release since then.

You know, I'd like to point out, though, that Israel has made the offer to Hamas on multiple occasions, to have ceasefire in exchange for hostages, and Hamas continues to play with them on this.

They will bring them right up to the doorstep of a ceasefire with the potential for release of hostages from both the Palestinian camps in Israel, but all So the ones that they took on October the 7th. And then, at the very end, just when there is hope, Hamas dashes those hope. I think that's what Max was describing.

So, you know, it means -- it's going to mean a continuation of the operation. And there is certainly a disconnect between the Biden administration and the Netanyahu government in terms of what they should do in terms of a ceasefire. And that three phase plan that president Biden pointed out that he was offering, allegedly with Mr. Netanyahu's approval a few days ago.

But I think as long as the hostages are still in captivity, and Hamas shows no interest in releasing them. Remember, these four that were kept, were recovered this morning, alive, were not given up by Hamas. They were driven by intelligence operations, by the Israeli military. So, I think you're going to see a continuation of that kind of intelligence.

And plus, I'd add that these hostages will also be able to add to that intelligence in terms of their type of treatment, where they have been moved from, the number of moves they have made, what locations are they putting their fellow hostages in, they may be able to add a lot of information and intelligence for the Israeli military to go after some more houses.

WALKER: And it really is remarkable that they were able to rescue these hostages eight months after the war started on October 7th.

Max, if and when Benny Gantz announces his withdrawal from the emergency war Cabinet. You know, he is a centrist. What kind of impact do you see that happening, you know, on Netanyahu's government? Do you expect to see more of a hardline approach?

BOOT: That's pretty hard to say. I'm not sure that, that much is going to change. I mean, Benny Gantz can leave, but it's not going to bring down the government. You know, the issue that could actually bring down the government is the question of conscripting ultra-orthodox men into the Israeli military, because some of the ultra-religious parties in the -- in the -- in the Cabinet are completely opposed to that.

And if the Israeli Supreme Court gives the go ahead to conscript the orthodox, that could actually be a crisis that can bring down the government. I don't think that the Benny Gantz departure will bring down the Cabinet. I mean, I think my -- you know, it's a little bit hard to know exactly what goes on behind the doors of the -- of the war Cabinet.

[07:40:03]

My sense is that Benny Gantz is certainly more open and Netanyahu is to the idea of having the Palestinian to know exactly what goes on behind the doors of the of the war cabinet. My sense is that Benny guns is certainly more open than Netanyahu is to the idea of having the Palestinian Authority play a role in governing Gaza after the war.

But I think, Gantz has also been pretty much of a hardliner on rooting out Hamas fighters even at the cost of substantial numbers of, you know, Palestinian civilian deaths. So, I am not sure he's diametrically opposed to Netanyahu on a lot of issues.

I mean, I think he certainly has a perception as being more of a moderate, but he is not -- he is certainly not a dove.

WALKER: I believe the conversation there, Max Boot and General Mark Hertling. Thank you very much. We'll be right back.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: (INAUDIBLE)

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[07:45:41]

BLACKWELL: More now on the breaking news. The IDF says it has rescued four hostages who were taken from the Nova Music Festival on October 7th, eight months ago. Now, the chief spokesman for the IDF describe the dangerous mission. Watch this.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

REAR ADM. DANIEL HAGARI, ISRAEL DEFENSE FORCES (through translator): This was a high-risk complex mission, based on precise intelligence conducted in daylight in two separate buildings deep inside Gaza.

While on the fire, on the fire inside the buildings, under fire on the way -- on the way out from Gaza, our forces rescued our hostages. Israeli forces have been preparing for this rescue mission for weeks.

There underwent intensive training. They risked their lives to save the lives of our hostages.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

WALKER: Just incredible to hear the details there.

Nic Robertson is back with us. you've been covering -- spent a lot of time covering these attacks, and the war between Israel and Hamas. And just hearing those details about this, you know, the hostages were rescued from two separate locations in daylight, while they were under fire. What do you make of all this?

NIC ROBERTSON, CNN INTERNATIONAL DIPLOMATIC EDITOR: This is such a success story for the IDF, and for the -- for the families right now. This is the moment they have been waiting for. I was at the hospital just outside Tel Aviv.

Earlier on this year, I think it was January, perhaps February, when two -- three hostages were freed, that was a nighttime raid meant laying down a lot of fire, a lot of Palestinians in the neighborhood were killed just to get these hostages freed.

But for those families, and you could feel the euphoria at the hospital back then. So, in -- outside Tel Aviv. So, I can only imagine we're witnessing now some of -- some of the celebrations, but I can only imagine how it must feel for the doctors there, who are real professionals in helping these hostages come out of this horrible environment that they have been in.

I mean, I'm looking -- you're looking at Noa Argamani now. She was handed a telephone. The president of Israel was congratulating her on the phone. But just look how pale she is. Go back and look at the video of when she was captured. She was tanned. She was clearly terrified in that video. So, it's quite amazing to see her now having endured more than 250 days of captivity, you know, surviving it.

But you can just see the way -- the way that she looks now. These hostages, it appears to have just been kept either underground or completely out of sunlight for so long now. It's a big process.

As we know, we're talking to doctors back then, earlier on in the year about the process of recovery for the hostages, and, you know, it's going to take a lot of time. There is the emotion. Noa got to meet with her father again. There were kisses. These are huge moments. But it's an intense trauma that they have been through, and it's going to take a long, long time, if ever to begin to unwind that.

But the medical staff at the hospital they're absolute professionals, and that know their job. But this is a moment of pure celebration, I think obviously for these families, but more broadly in Israel. And a -- and a -- and a desperate sense for those other hostage families now who desperately hope it's their loved ones next.

BLACKWELL: Yes, live pictures here of the celebrations as those four Israeli hostages, as we said located from -- rescued from two separate locations. All four, taken from the Nova music festival on October 7th. They are now free. Medical checks under -- happening right now.

We'll continue to get you more on this breaking news. Nic Robertson, thank you for that.

[07:49:37]

Quick break. We'll be back.

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UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Idol Bibi

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Idol Bibi. (INAUDIBLE).

(END VIDEO CLIP)

(COMMERCIAL BREAK)

BLACKWELL: All right. Back now to Paris, where French President Macron is hosting President Biden and the first lady on an official state visit. CNN senior White House correspondent, Kayla Tausche is in Paris.

The presidents are expected to hold talks today. We know they will be addressing a lot. I imagine that we'll hear from them on this news out of Israel as well.

KAYLA TAUSCHE, CNN SENIOR WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Yes. It is hard to imagine that they would not address that news, given how momentous it is for that situation. And the fact that the war between Israel and Hamas and the current situation for civilians and humanitarian aid in Gaza was one of the areas where the administration expected President Macron to be very frank and very candid with his assessment of how the White House has been handling that situation.

[07:55:01]

So, certainly, for the U.S. this is seen as a welcome development. It's something that they have been pushing for, for some time. And certainly, that is welcome news that President Biden can bring to the table as part of that discussion.

Other topics that the two leaders are expected to discuss are the strengthening of the NATO alliance going forward and going into this summit, celebrating the 75th anniversary of the Alliance next month.

That need to continue supporting Ukraine for the long term, and what sorts of resources and assets can be deployed to Ukraine at this stage of the war after President Biden has just received a detailed assessment from President Zelenskyy yesterday. And then, there is going to be a discussion around securing the Indo Pacific, with a new maritime cooperation deal expected to be announced between the two.

Relations with China, in particular, had been one area where Macron has been willing to be more open, more friendly toward China than the U.S. has. So, certainly, that is an area where the two could be in some disagreement, although, there is this partnership that they will announce. We do expect those joint statements a little bit later on this afternoon.

When asked why there would not be a press conference between two democracies, the White House said that, that was a discussion that was agreed between the two sides. Guys.

WALKER: All right. Kayla Tausche in Paris, where the U.S. president and French president are about to head into a working lunch. Thank you so much, Kayla.

BLACKWELL: And thank you so much for joining us this morning. "FIRST OF ALL" starts after a break.

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