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Hamas Says It's Willing to Release U.S.-Israel Hostage Edan Alexander; Senate Faces Midnight Deadline to Avoid Government Shutdown; Tempers Flare at Asheville Town Hall. Aired 10-10:30a ET

Aired March 14, 2025 - 10:00   ET

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

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[10:00:00]

PAMELA BROWN, CNN ANCHOR: I'm Pamela Brown. Happening now, breaking news. Approval to release, Hamas says it's willing to free Edan Alexander, the last living American hostage held in Gaza. But Israel is now accusing Hamas of engaging in psychological warfare.

WOLF BLITZER, CNN ANCHOR: And there's more breaking news, and I'm quoting now, outrage and betrayal. Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez is slamming her own party in the U.S. Senate all over whether to support a bill to avoid a federal government shutdown later tonight.

Welcome to our viewers here in the United States and around the world. I'm Wolf Blitzer. You're in The Situation Room.

And we begin with the breaking news this hour. Hamas now says it is willing to release Edan Alexander, the 21-year-old who was kidnapped back on October 7th, 2023 and has been held in captivity for 525 days. His mother just told me this last week,

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YAEL ALEXANDER, MOTHER OF EDAN ALEXANDER: I just pray and hope that this day will come also to us that he done will come back home.

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BLITZER: Let's go live right now to CNN Jerusalem Correspondent Jeremy Diamond. He's joining us today from Tel Aviv.

Jeremy, what more are you learning about this latest offer from Hamas and Israel's reaction?

JEREMY DIAMOND, CNN JERUSALEM CORRESPONDENT: Well, Wolf, Hamas says that it is willing to release the Israeli soldier, Edan Alexander, who is also an American citizen. He is the last living American hostage being held in Gaza by Hamas. And Hamas is also saying that they will release the bodies of four dual national hostages who have been held hostage since October 7th. It is not clear whether those four dual nationals would be the dual American-Israeli, although we do know that that is the exact number of bodies of American hostages still being held in Gaza.

Hamas said that it was responding positively to the American proposal, and a Hamas leader told CNN that the counterproposal is intended to try and jumpstart negotiations on reaching phase two of this ceasefire agreement within 50 days, which would, of course, include the withdrawal of all Israeli troops from Gaza and an end to the war.

But Hamas' response is quite different from the American proposal that was put on the table this week by the U.S. special envoy, Steve Witkoff. We learned yesterday that the United States was proposing that Hamas release a handful of living hostages and an unspecified number of deceased hostages as well in exchange for an extended ceasefire, the entry of humanitarian aid and the release of an unspecified number of Palestinian prisoners.

And indeed, the Israeli prime minister's office says that they have agreed to that Witkoff proposal, and they accuse Hamas now with this counterproposal of, quote, engaging in manipulation and psychological warfare.

So, clearly, these negotiations are progressing, but it also shows that there are some serious gaps that remain between the two sides. We expect that the Israeli negotiating team that has been in Doha for much of this week will return to Israel tonight and tomorrow night, the Israeli prime minister will convene his ministerial team to review what the negotiators have accomplished and have been engaging in Doha and to decide on next steps for the release of the hostages and some kind of extended ceasefire. Wolf?

BLITZER: Let's hope the remaining hostages come home and come home soon.

Jeremy Diamond in Tel Aviv for us, thank you very much. Pamela?

BROWN: And, Wolf, we have some breaking news on Capitol Hill. The Senate is under pressure and on the clock as it races to beat the midnight deadline to avert a government shutdown. And in a stunning development, Senate Minority Leader Chuck Schumer announced that he will back the GOP's stopgap bill just one day after signaling Democrats had the votes to block it.

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SEN. CHUCK SCHUMER (D-NY): I have said many times there are no winners in a government shutdown, but there are certainly victims.

I believe it is my job to make the best choice for the country to minimize the harms to the American people.

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BROWN: Let's go live now to CNN Correspondent Arlette Saenz on Capitol Hill. Arlette, this move has certainly left some Democrats fuming.

[10:05:002] Now, Donald Trump is essentially thanking Chuck Schumer. What's going on this morning? What are you hearing?

ARLETTE SAENZ, CNN WHITE HOUSE CORRESPONDENT: Well, Pamela, this reversal from Minority Leader Chuck Schumer has really stunned many Democrats upon Capitol Hill who had hoped this government funding debate would be their real first point of leverage to try to counter President Trump's actions. But instead, what this episode is doing, it's really highlighting the divides and fissures within the Democratic Party, as many in the base have been pushing lawmakers to do more to try to counter Trump's actions.

Now, you're seeing this divide where House Democratic leader Hakeem Jeffries kept his coalition mostly united and then now Schumer issuing this reversal saying that he will now vote to avert a government shutdown. In his mind, a shutdown would simply empower Elon Musk and President Trump even more in their efforts to dismantle the federal government. Here is how he explained a bit of his decision.

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SCHUMER: It's not that the C.R. is good, it's horrible. And all things being equal, we should have opposed it. But the alternative being a shutdown makes things worse.

I knew I'd get criticized, but I felt obligated for the country, for my Democratic caucus, to the people, to explain how bad a shutdown would be. And if we had -- if we went into a shutdown and everything bad happened, I had to give people this warning.

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SAENZ: While he's facing pressure and criticism from some of his Democratic colleagues, there is one person praising him, and that's President Trump. Trump took to Truth Social a short while ago to say that Chuck Schumer's decision was a really good and smart move. That comment is likely not to sit well with many Democrats up on Capitol Hill, and Republicans will still need the support of eight Democratic senators in order to clear a key procedural hurdle. That vote, that key vote is expected to happen this afternoon. It will really present a test of this strategy going forward as that midnight deadline looms for a possible government shutdown.

BROWN: Arlette, that do we know anything more about the turnaround from Schumer, you know, saying initially we have the votes to block this and then coming around to it, saying that a shutdown makes things worse for Americans?

SAENZ: Well, Schumer had wanted to present this united front with Democratic senators on Wednesday, and then Thursday is when he announced that reversal. And what he's tried to do is take to television airways, speak with reporters, also issuing or writing that editorial in The New York Times trying to explain that in his mind, a government shutdown would simply enable Trump and Musk, to potentially make further cuts to government that there hasn't been a situation like this before when you've had a president in power who has worked to dismantle the federal government and then has a shutdown facing them as well.

But, certainly, there will be a lot of questions among Senate Democrats among Democrats over in the house about this strategy, whether it is the most effective one. But Schumer last night did say to -- would not say to reporters whether there are enough Democratic votes to get this across the finish line. That's why watching that vote this afternoon will be critical as it will be a key test for Democrats and Republicans as they're trying to get this passed.

BROWN: Yes, certainly. Well, Arlette, thank you so much. Wolf?

BLITZER: It's interesting. There's a story developing Pamela right now, temperance flaring in Asheville, North Carolina, where Republican Congressman Chuck Edwards met with his constituents. Watch this.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You are coward.

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BLITZER: Indeed, jeers and boos filled the town hall yesterday as Edwards was pressed about DOGE cuts, especially ones that have impacted U.S. military veterans. Also, watch this.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: You're lying. I'm a veteran, and you don't give a (BLEEP) about me.

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BLITZER: CNN's Isabel Rosales was at that town hall, is joining us now live with more. Isabel, were DOGE cuts the central concern or were there other points of major contention?

ISABEL ROSALES, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Wolf, good morning to you. Yes, there were a variety of issues that were brought up, Ukraine, U.S.'s relationship with allies like Canada. But it was very clear that the DOGE cuts went across the political aisle. I heard this from registered Republicans, too, that were furious. It was a brutal hour- and-a-half of constituents at the 11th district hurling questions, insults at times, shouting matches, but also wanting accountability, wanting their voices to be heard and reminding the congressman that he is in Washington to represent the 11th district and not Washington's interests. Watch this fiery exchange.

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CHRIS BOEHME, VIETNAM VETERAN: I'm a registered Republican and I'm showing up here because it really hurts me to see the V.A. under attack, people being fired. Generally speaking this whole -- the way they're so chaotic and firing all these people, you know, you probably do know a third of the federal workforce are veterans. You know, it's wrong. It's just wrong.

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ROSALES: And that registered Republican also told me he's asking Edwards to stand up to Elon Musk. That is specifically what he wants to see out of his representative.

I also heard with a lot of credit being given by these constituents to Edwards for holding an in-person town hall to begin with, because we've seen this advice GOP leadership telling Republicans to not hold town halls or switch them to virtual settings. So, they were appreciative that they could be there in person to hear from the representative. Wolf?

BLITZER: Isabel Rosales, I appreciate it very much. Pamela?

BROWN: All right. We have more breaking news on this very busy Friday morning. A new report released just minutes ago measures how Americans are feeling about their money and the nation's economy. The bottom line, consumer sentiment has taken a bigger than expected hit.

Let's go live now to CNN Business and Politics Correspondent Vanessa Yurkevich. What are you learning from this report, Vanessa?

VANESSA YURKEVICH, CNN BUSINESS AND POLITICS CORRESPONDENT: Well, this is the preliminary numbers from March. This is the consumer sentiment survey that's put out by the University of Michigan.

So, this is just picking up the first few days of this month. But what it reveals is that consumer sentiment fell again for the third straight month, dropping almost 11 percent, exactly 10.5 percent, in year over year, dropping 27.1 percent.

Now, the reason for this drop indicated in this report really points to economic uncertainty, uncertainty that consumers are feeling around tariffs and the economy, and that makes it very hard for them to plan.

So, the current outlook, how people are feeling currently is unchanged from February to March. But how people are feeling about the future, the long-term outlook of the economy and particularly inflation, that is where we see a sizable decline in confidence. Folks are feeling like the long-term outlook for inflation is not looking good, so much so that this report picked up that long-term inflation saw the largest month over month increase since 1993. So, increase, meaning bad feelings about how people are feeling about inflation.

Now, we will get the latter half of this report closer towards the end of the month. And it's interesting to point out, Pamela, that in February's consumer sentiment report, the beginning of that report sort of showed a 5 percent decline in a sentiment and then it jumped by the end of the month. So, we're already starting at 11 percent for March. We'll see where this ends up as the month closes out, Pamela.

BROWN: Certainly not heading in a good direction, Vanessa.

I also want to ask you about gold prices reaching a record. What does that signal to investors?

YURKEVICH: Yes. Well, the price of gold crossing $3,000 an ounce. That is a record. And this really indicates that investors are looking for safe places to put their money. One equity manager said that gold is the panic asset of choice. So, people are looking for very safe places to put their money right now, as we're seeing a very volatile stock market.

You have the S&P that was going into territory that is not very good for the markets right now, territory that signals that it saw a 10 percent drop off of its record, which was just hit in February. And you can see the markets right now, though. Not really taking a lot of this news into account, not feeling too bad about maybe this survey and things that they heard from the commerce secretary earlier this morning, forecasting more tariffs coming on April 2nd, but the price of gold for many investors is looking like a safe haven right now as they try to parse through all of this economic data, including this sentiment survey and all of the changes that are coming with tariffs. Pamela?

BROWN: All right. Vanessa, thank you so much, Wolf?

BLITZER: All right, Pamela. Still ahead, we're going to be speaking to Democratic Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley on the state of the Democratic Party, just ahead of the major spending bill vote later tonight and Senator Chuck Schumer's reversal.

And Dr. Oz in the hot seat on Capitol Hill. We are minutes away from the hearing in the Senate for Trump's pick to lead the agency in charge of Medicare and Medicaid.

You're in The CNN Situation Room. We'll be back.

[10:15:00]

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BROWN: Happening now, two investigators with the NTSB are now en route to Denver International Airport where this terrifying engine fire forced passengers onto the wing of an airplane and we're learning that the agency and FAA are investigating after this American Airlines flight diverted to Denver Thursday when the crew reported these engine vibrations. Well, little did they know what was going to happen next. Shortly after landing, the engine burst into flames.

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UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Mayday, mayday, mayday, mayday. Charlie 48, engine fire.

UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Charlie 48 engine fire, copy.

[10:20:00]

Charlie 48, fire personnel is responding. INGRID HIBBITS, PASSENGER ON DIVERTED FLIGHT: As soon as the plane landed, it was a very abrupt landing. Everyone started screaming and we heard, fire.

There was flames out, out of the window where I was looking out. It started bubbling, like melting. It was really weird. And everybody was kind of pushing to get out of the plane.

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BROWN: Let's go live now to CNN Aviation Analyst and Science Correspondent for PBS NewsHour Miles O'Brien. Miles, it's interesting if you go back and listen to the correspondence between the plane and air traffic control. Initially, the pilot was very calm saying, look, we just have, you know, engine vibration here. This doesn't seem to be, you know, an emergency. And then fast forward a little bit later and it was mayday, mayday. Walk us through how this could have happened.

MILES O'BRIEN, CNN AVIATION ANALYST: It's a sequence of events that is a bit murky, Pamela, and lots of questions are raised by it. With an engine problem and a landing and a fire, why did that aircraft taxi to the terminal and the gate? Why wasn't there an immediate evacuation ordered by the flight crew? Is it possible they were unaware of the fire until they were closer to the gate? That's interesting and important question to answer.

And then, of course, what you saw was rather chaotic evacuation of that aircraft people on the wing of the aircraft in that scenario. Was that something that the crew commanded or were people at the exit doors? Did they do that on their own initiative out of concern, obviously?

They did at least evacuate on the left side of the plane that wasn't -- the side that wasn't on fire. But then on top of that, there's a door open on the right side, the rear right side door, which is the side of an aircraft that you're not supposed to evacuate from because it was the side on fire.

And so there's a lot of questions about the decisions, the sequence of events and how this chaotic evacuation occurred.

BROWN: How unusual are engine vibrations and then leading to a fire like this?

O'BRIEN: You know, they happen. And this particular engine is one of the most widely used engines in the world. It's built by General Electric in a partnership with a French company called Safran. You know, you, in 2018 on a 737 operated by Southwest Airlines, there was an explosive -- explosion, which caused a piece of shrapnel to go into the fuselage. It end up killing a passenger.

So, occasionally, these things do happen. And, you know, when you consider all the stress and pressures that a jet engine is under, they're going to happen over millions of hours of time. But a question like this, the questions like this are really how that emergency response occurred, the sequence events and what the crew told the passengers to do.

BROWN: Of course, this is the latest in a slew of aviation incidents. A lot of people are concerned right now about flying. What do you say to them?

O'BRIEN: Yes. You know, we've had a spate of them for sure. Some of this is we are hyper attentive to this kind of thing right now. We might be putting things together that were dots cannot be connected. The second thing is, statistically, it's still a pretty safe way to go. But the third thing is this is a system overall that is stressed. There are reduced people in the control towers and less experienced people in the flight decks. And that's an issue to contend with.

BROWN: Miles O'Brien, thank you so much.

We'll be right back.

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BLITZER: All right. Let's get back to our breaking news. Hamas now says it is willing to release U.S.-Israeli hostage Edan Alexander and the bodies of four dual nationals. But Israel says Hamas is engaging in what the Israelis are calling psychological warfare by announcing this.

BROWN: Joining us now for more analysis is CNN Political and National Security Analyst David Sanger. David, thanks for coming on.

So, I want to be clear. Hamas says it is willing to release Edan Alexander and the bodies of these four dual nationals. You just heard what the Israeli prime minister is accusing Hamas of. Do you take this seriously, this offer?

DAVID SANGER, CNN POLITICAL AND NATIONAL SECURITY ANALYST: You know, I think the offer is probably serious because it was clear for a while that they were willing to release him. He's the one American and then these four bodies. I think the question is, how does this fit into the rest of the releases? There are, you know, more than 30 other hostages who are out there. They're supposed to be part of this phase two that hasn't happened.

And it seems like the diplomacy here has really sort of gummed up. You know, Steve Witkoff, who's been the president's intermediary here or envoy, is spending most of his time now, it looks like, trying to deal with Ukraine, a critical issue. But there is this sense that the Israelis and Hamas Have both sort of slowed down because they recognize that the phase two of this agreement is just so hard to put together.

BLITZER: How does Trump fit into all of this, the negotiations, the effort to get Hamas and Israel to extend the ceasefire and for Hamas to release more Israeli hostages?

SANGER: You know, Wolf, I have the sense, and I'm not sure I could prove this, that this is not the top of the president's agenda right now. You know, he is so engaged in the conversations with Putin.

[10:30:00]

He is so engaged in the Ukraine issue. He doesn't see a huge amount of gain for this after they get the last.