Good day to our viewers around the world. It is tuesday, october 24, 5 00 a. M. In washington and noon in israel where two hostages newly released from hamas captivity have had a emotional reunion. The daughter of one hostage says her mothers safe return is a great sign for all the other hamas captives. This is not a political issue, is this a humane issue. Weve lost so many. Sis a ray ofe is so much darkness. I cant wait to see my mom and other members of the Community Also hugging their loved ones. Were expecting to hear from one of those women any minute now and well bring some of that to you when we get it. President biden said that all the hostages have to be free before the u. S. Will consider a ceasefire in gaza. And the point he was trying to make is that the u. S. Is standing behind israel as they lay the ground work for iz nvasn of gaza. Israel says that they bombed more than 400 terror targets. This is the humanitarian crisis deepens. One hospital completely without power. Hamas accuses israel of crimes against humanity for barring the import of fuel into gaza. Rafael romo is live for us in tel aviv. There is clearly a link between the hostages and negotiating for their freedom and timing of any likely israeli incursion into gaza. We have now seen two pairs of hostages be released over the course of the past few days. What can we draw from the timing of this . Reporter good morning, good afternoon from tel aviv. It was very clear from the beginning that hamas in addition to committing all kinds of atrocitieses and acts of terror wanted to have Bargaining Power by taking more than 200 hostages. They had a very good idea about how israel would respond and it appears that they planned for its reaction. Israeli Prime MinisterBenjamin Netanyahu is facing an impossibly difficult dilemma. On the one hand his government has announced that the main objective, the main focus for the Israel Defense forces is i will annihilating hamas. On the other hand, israel is Feeling Pressure from the United States and other countries to delay any Ground Incursion into gaza until all hostages are released. And then, caykasie, you also ha statements like the one made by dutch Prime Minister who says that he called on netanyahu to show restraints when it comes to using force this gaza. And it is very evident to us that the historical tensions between nations here in the middle east are as deep as ever. Prime minister netanyahu thanked egypt for assisting with the release of the hostages and he also thanked the red cross for what he called their Important Role as lifesavers. But there was no mention of qatar, a country also involved in the negotiations. In a statement on behalf of the Special Envoy for abducted and missing persons, it says about the hostages that the idf and security forces, Israeli Security forces, have worked very hard in the last few days in all channels to bring about the release. And so a very difficult situation here for the Prime Minister. Rafael romo, thanks very much for that report. Really appreciate it. And as we mentioned, israeli airstrikes have intensified in the past 24 hours. Even in the south where more than a Million People have relocated in recent weeks. And the humanitarian crisis there is getting worse. Aid groups and doctors warn the unrelenting attacks are taking a horrific toll on the gaza children. 2,000 children killed in under 16 days. Were just waiting for the electricity to run out and the fuel and then that will be the death toll of the health system. Without electricity, you know, this hospital will just be a mass grave. Salma abdelaziz is joining us from london. Good morning to you. Many are calling of course for an immediate ceasefire to try to Save The Children. Mostly europeans. Americans are not. What can you tell us . Reporter europeans and aid groups that see that the situation is spiraling out of control. The death toll so far, 2,000 children killed according to Save The Children in the Palestinian Health ministry. It is important to note here that half the population of gaza, half the population of that impoverished enclave is children. They are very much caught in the crossfire. So when we talk about airstrikes ramping up, and i want to just wrap up here because i understand we have a live presser, so back to you. Thank you very much. I reerkt it. So well go live to Yocheved Lifshitz just released hostage. Shes speaking at a hospital here in tel aviv as you see there. We want to listen in here when she starts to talk. She thanks you for coming today. She was born in 1938 in israel. Translator take your time. I went through hell that i couldnt have known that we get into this stage. I was kidnapped on a motor bike on my side while they were driving towards gaza. In the field. 2. 5 billion didnt help. Hoards broke into our homes. Part were taken hostages. It was a painful act. They brought us into a gate. I was lying on the side on the motor bike. I got bruises which because of the drive it made my breathing hard. Were not taking questions at this point. Okay. My mom is telling the horrific stories, shes saying that many, many people, a swarm of people, came through the fence, that the fence cost 2. 5 billion sheckles and it didnt help a little bit. She was taken on a motor bike with her legs on one side and she was taken through the plowed fields with the men in front on one side and man behind her. And that while she was being taken, she was hit by sticks, by bad people. Until they reached the tun tunnels [ speaking in a nonenglish language ] there they walked for a few kilometers on the wet ground. [ speaking in a nonenglish language ] there are huge network of tunnels underneath. Looks like a spider web. And i will repeat it in hebrew. [ speaking in a nonenglish language ] they took off the watch and jewelry as she was driving. [ speaking in a nonenglish language ] translator as we got there as my mom translator as we got there the people told us that they are people who believe in the koran and they will not harm us and that we will get the same conditions they get in the tunnels. We began walking inside the tunnels with the wet ground. Moist wet dump everywhere. There were 25 people 25 of us after 2 to three hours, they separated from five people from kibbutz who were put in a separate room. There were guards and a paramedic and a doctor. Who took care of the fact that well have the same medicine that we need. There we lied on mattresses. They took care of the sanitary side so we wont get sick god forbid. And we had a doctor who came to see us every two to three days. The paramedics took it upon himself and took care of medicines. If there were not medicines, they would bring substitute medicine. Equivalent medicines. There was a guy who got kidnapped with a motor bike. He was injured with his legs, his feet, his hands. An hour and a half each day the paramedic made him better and now he is much, much better. With an antibiotic. After four to five days, they changed antibiotics and he got better. We were five and for each of us there was a guard. They took care of every details. A lot of women and they know about Feminine Hygiene and they took care of everything there. They didnt want to get an endemic. [ inaudible ] there is no sound. My mother is telling about coming through the tunnels. My mom talking about coming there, when they arrive, they arrive into a large [ inaudible ]. They were given medicine and they were treated. One of the men with them had a badly injured from the Motor Bike Accident on the way. And the paramedic was looking afterly his wounds, was given medicine and antibiotics that the people were friendly, that they kept it clean. They were very concerned about [ speaking in a nonenglish language ] we have been listening to Yocheved Lifshitz who is one of the just released hostages. Were having a bit of trouble from the audio, so well continue listening here and if we figure that out or if she continues to talk, well bring it back to you. She was just recounting her story of being taken on a Motor Bike Into Gaza into the tunnels, how she and four other hostages were separated into a room. Others from the kibbutz where she lived. That is her daughter In The Red Shirt right next to her. She has spoken to cnn about her mothers ordeal. Her mother did say there was a badly wounded hostage that was with her who paramedics in gaza cared for as they were being held here. So just an incredibly dramatic scene to watch this now released hostage. Again, she is still talking. Were trying to figure out how we can listen into what she is saying here. I want to bring in ken gray to talk more about this, is he a professor of Criminal Justice at the University Of New Haven and former fbi special agent. Ken, thank you very much for being with us. We may be hearing a bit underneath some of the translation here. So ill listen back in for just a moment and well come back to you. Translator with cucumber and white cheese. That was the food for a whole day. My mom is talking about the conditions and [ speaking in a nonenglish language ] my mom speaking about the time there. She is telling us about sharing food with the people, that the people when she first arrived, that they told them that they are muslims, that they will not hurt them, and that they shared they ate the same food that hamas was eating. All right. Ken, if you are still with me, well continue to keep an eye on this, but were having Trouble Listening to Yocheved Lifshitz. Can you help us understand what you as someone who has worked around Hostage Situations are hearing and understanding here, shes walking through quite a few details of what it was like. We heard her say cucumbers some of the food she was given for a whole day, but she did talk about how the paramedics helping them, they seemed to be very prepared to be dealing with these people that they brought back. Sure, this is excellent information as far as i know tell against as far as i know tell against goes and what the situation is. Important thing she mentioned is the factknowtell against goes a the situation is. Important thing she mentioned is the fact there were a group together and they were in a tunnel and some were separated away. This is all valuable information to try to use to try to locate the hostages and to be able to figure out what the idf is going to be experiencing when tho into rescue them. This is exactly what you need to prepare a rescue. And since the information is coming and going, im hiz tants hesitant to i think that well have our producers listen in. There she is. Translator Opened The Gates Of Kibbutz and came in droves. It was very, very difficult and unpleasant. In the memory i see the images. [ inaudible ]. Translator they treated us Can Ag Gentle Care and all the necessities they provided. My mom saying that they treat them kindly and provided translator they looked very well prepared. They prepared it for a long period of time. All of the needs for female, for women needs, shampoo, conditione conditioner. Again, were having a lot of trouble with some of the translations here. Ken gray, that was really interesting context that you were providing. And she seemed to add to it just there in saying that they were prepared with shampoo, with conditioner, that this had been a long time in the planning and that she could tell that from her experience. Absolutely. So a lot of very, very good details in here. But i think more than that, we see that through this Press Conference that is going on right now, this is actually projecting information that hamas wants to get out. That is they want to project the information that they are treating the hostages very well, and that they are treating them as humans and that they are in the process of doing so, they are winning the war as far as information goes. So this is a very, very good example of being able to only that the information situation. When the United States went into fallujah, that was one of the things that was lost by the u. S. That they did not control the information very well in the first battle of fallujah. Similarly here, we see hamas using this as a method of being able to show themselves of being humane, treating the hostages well. And then it will make the idf look even worse when they actually enter into the gaza strip. Of course hamas couldnt have known what this hostage was going to say, what Yocheved Lifshitz was going to say. And she did talk a little bit about and im heoping would e get to hear a clearer version of what she did have to say about what it was like to be taken from the kibbutz. She said those images in my memory i see the images she said of what it was like when she attacked her kibbutz. Absolutely. So it is a wild card, they dont know how she will deal with the press after she is released. However, they did decide to release her and we dont know why she was selected to be released. Yeah, that is a really challenging reality. I mean, she also did talk about and i want to dig into something that you touched on which is that she and five others were separated from the other hostages. What does that tell you about the strategy that hamas is using in handling their captives . It me it means that there was a process of separating the hostages to make it more difficult in the event that idf comes in to rescue the hostages, that they wont find them in one location to where one operation would rescue them all. So that may not have been the intent but it certainly shows that this will be a difficulty on the part of any type of rescue operation, just simply the fact that the logistics will make it difficult having them in separate locations. This is only 25 by the way of all the hostages. So while this one is going on in this operation, there may be similar type of operations elsewhere where people are being held in tunnels. But they also might be being held in apartments. And that number of course hat one point 222. Ken gray, thank you very much. H. Ken gray, thank you very much. Thank you for helping us watch in real time. I appreciate your perspective. Just ahead here, hamas releasing two more hostages in gaza as you saw. Well have a live report from tel aviv. And then there were eight. Well get into the speakers race and the latest candidate to drop out. Good tuesday more than. Im kasie hunt. It is 5 30 on the east coast. One of the two israeli women released from gaza just hours ago by hamas spoke to the media from a tel aviv hospital where she and another former hostage have been treated. Well have more on that in a moment. President biden said monday all the hostages will have to be freed before the u. S. Will ever consider pushing for a ceasefire in gaza. Why did you ceasefire, have the Hostages Release and then we can talk. And u. S. Continues to stand behind israel. Humanitarian crisis in gaza is deepening. One hospital now completely without power. Hamas accuses israel of a crime against humanity. Rafael romo is live in tel aviv. Rafael, we just witnessed a very remarkable Press Conference from Yocheved Lifshitz, one of the two newly released hostages. It was a stunning thing to watch unfold. She says i went through hell, i was kidnapped on a Motor Bike Driving Toward Gaza in the field. And she went on to talk about the treatment that she received at the hands of her captors. She says that she and four other hostages were separated, there was one very ill treated with antibiotics. The message she seemed to be sending is that they were treating her well. Of course we cant lose sight of the fact that this is after hamas butchered 1400 plus israelis and took of course more than 200 of them hostage as part of this. What else did you hear as you listened to her speak . Reporter yeah, that is a very good observation. I think what she was trying to tell was that they were treated very harshly when they were kidnapped and taken hostage and then everything changed and they were treated in a more again tell oig way once they were in gaza. And let me tell you, she appeared in remarkable Good Condition considering that she was in captivity for the last two weeks. And lets remember she is 85, her name is Yocheved Lifshitz. And was telling journalists that she was taken into xwaz in a motorcycle if you can imagine this. Lets hear to what she just had to say a few moments ago. Translator Lack Of Awareness by idf hurt us a lot. They warned us three weeks befo beforehand. Sent Fire Balloons. Idf did not treat it seriously. Reporter she said she was hit with sticks and then was taken into a tunnel describing a network of tunnels that looks like a spider web, that there were dump and moist and a paramedic. Once they got there, there was paramedic there with them and then a doctor who went to see them every two to three days. Also gave them access to medication. She made one observation that was very interesting, she said that they built a wall, by they mean the israeli government, a very expensive fence that could not stop the terrorists from coming to get us she said. And we learned the two women released yesterday including Yocheved Lifshitz who just spoke as we heard, and also nurit cooper who is 79 years old, had a very emotional reunion with relatives when they finally were able to get to the hospital here in tel aviv. Kasie. Yeah, just an unbelievably remarkable situation. And we also heard her criticizing the idf for what they did not do in the leadup to this massacre. Rafael romo, thanks for your reporting. All right. Lets go to this. In just hours House Republicans will try, try again to nominate a speaker who can actually get 217 votes on the house floor. Signs so far not encouraging. For example, there are now eight republicans running for speaker after of course Kevin Mccarthy was voted out, two other members of the Leadership Saw their bids flame out. The ones remaining here, none are household names. There had been nine until pennsylvania dan muser dropped out after the closed door candidate forum. He is that red x there. And many seem to be bordering on a staete of despair of how this reflects on their party and processspects of holding the majority in 2024. People want government to function and this is dysfunctional. Feels like were not functioning as a majority and when you lose that ability to govern. People are worked up down there about that, they think that all of us are incapable. So we have to stay here until we get it done. People are very worked up. Annie grayer is joining us. Thank you for being here. This is a complete mess and im getting the increasing sense that they dont have confidence that they can unify around anyone, they dont know what plan b would even look like. There is this push to try to get it done by the end of the night tonight. Where do things stand . Kasie, gay and lesbian good morning. What ive learned covering this is what were told that people have not been able to unify. But they will meet Behind Closed Doors and try to elect a speaker nominee. As you mentioned, there are eight candidates and republicans will vote on Secret Ballot and each candidate who receives the least amount of votes with each round will get dropped out until one candidate gets the majority of the votes. They will then be speaker nominee. But that is just part one. Whoever becomes speaker has to be able to get 217 votes on the house floor. And as weve seen with majority leader Steve Scalise and jim jordan in their bid, both men had serious opposition preventing them from getting 217. These eight candidates are largely unknown what their road blocks will be. But game time 9 00 a. M. And well see if there is anyone who can get consensus. I will say, you know, ive been talking to a couple sources and there did seem to be a question and a sense that maybe they need to hit absolute rock bottom before they can try and use some sort of whether that is giving Patrick Mchenney are the are mchenry the gavel. But i was surprised to hear that they dont think that they hit rock bottom today. So maybe they will figure it out. I think that it is kind of like the eyes of the beholder what rock bottom is. We are now three weeks with no speaker. Which means that the house cannot pass bills. It cant work toward keeping the government open which has a November 17th deadline. It cant provide aid to israel which with the war unfolding as we are seeing in real time how much help is needed. It also cant help the war in ukraine. So what is it going to take for republicans to unify. That is the question that i too am asking. All my sources, nobody seems to be able to give a clear answer of what that final Breaking Point will be to get 217 votes and move on with this. Lets talk about tom emmer for a second. He is widely considered the frontrunner if you could call it that. He is the only one who is currently running who holds a post in the existing leadership. But obviously weve heard that the former President Donald Trump is not thrilled with emmer. Now, there was some public back and forth yesterday and emmer seemed to say, hey, ill work with donald trump. How much of a factor is the trump effect in this right now . I think that there is in some effect, but it is really unclear how big of an effect donald trump has in the speakers race. Because trump stuck his neck out and endorsed jim jordan and we all know how that turned out. Jordan couldnt get 217 votes and had to drop out on friday. So i think there is skepticism that the donald trump factor here will have an impact on tom emmer. But the two spoke over the weekend. There seems to be at least publicly a positive vibe between the two even if there is a history behind the scenes. So i think that it is a wait and see on that front. Yeah, the former president started out thinking that there is not really much in this for me and then he kind of got involved and got a little burned so now okay, let them figure it out. Annie grayer, thank you for being with us. Well go to some quick hits across america now. Long time fixer turned critic Michael Cohen is set to testify at Donald Trumps civil fraud trial today. Latitia james says they opened the investigation in 2019 after trump significantly overstated his wealth before taking office. And police in detroit have identified persons of interest in the Stabbing Death of a synagogue president , but they say they are not yet ready to name a suspect. They say the assailant likely acted alone and he was not motivated by antisemitism. And bob menendez entered a plea of not guilty to a charge alleging that he conspired to act as a foreign a littgent of. And he left the courthouse without comment. He later described the charge as, quote, outrageous as it is absurd. All right. Up next, President Biden determined to get his response to the israelhamas war just right, what he says about the possibility of a ceasefire, next. Cmon, were right there. Cmon baby. Its the only we need. Go, go, go, go ah Touchdown Baby touchdown are your neighbors watching the same game . Yeah, my 5g Home Internet delays the game a bit. But you get used to it. Try these. Theyre noise cancelling earmuffs. Rom an airport. Its always something with you, man. Great solid greek salad . Exactly dont delay the game with verizon or tmobile 5g Home Internet. Catch it on the xfinity 10g network. Intotwo more Hostages Relea but still more than 200 being held captive. President biden spoke about the situation on monday. We should have a ceasefire not a ceasefire. We should have the hoisz stages released and then we can talk. Wolf blitzer asked john kirby. What did the president mean by saying and then we can talk . Is a ceasefire on the table if hamas releases all the hostages . The message was clear, release all the hostages. This needs to Bes First Move here. They have to release all the hostages. Were not talking about a ceasefire right now. In fact we dont believe that this is the time for a ceasefire. Lets bring in joel rubin who worked in the Obama Administration and also a democratic candidate for congress in maryland. Good morning. What the president has to say there, he seems clearly misspoke saying that we should have a ceasefire and then quickly correcting himself. Obviously there have been calls from the europeans from other nations in the region saying that the ceasefire should happen. The u. S. Seems to say absolutely not. The hostages need to be released before we even consider talking about that. I have a really hard time seeing that changing. What is your view . Yeah, great to be with you. I agree talk of a ceasefire is inside ball but administration is clear the whole time that they are not going to tell israel what do directly in terms of Military Operations. And there is space for the operations to go forward. Even President Biden yesterday posted that he is not calling for a ceasefire. So i think that were seeing a delicate dance where there are civilians in harms way, there are hostages right now. No one controls whether or not they will be released. Qatar is negotiating, israelis and hamas are talking through qatar. So clearly a real concern against whether they will get trapped in a military offensive. But ceasefire certainly being pushed publicly, but is not really in the cards right now from the administration. And of course the question whether a Military Operation to rescue some of the hostages might be the best move. Unclear at this point. A lot of fog around that question. And i want to show you a little bit earlier this hour, we had a remarkable Press Conference from Yocheved Lifshitz, one of the two hamas hostages that was just released. And she was accompanied by her daughter at a tel aviv hospital where she spoke and we have kind of a brief piece of what she had to say. There is some translation of course because she wasnt speaking english. But take a look at some of what she had to say. There are huge, huge network of tunnels underneath. It looks like a spider web. That of course her daughter translating what she had just said. You know, she kind of told the story, she would i went through hell, she was on the back of a motor bike, she was bruised and taken into these tunnels. I mean, just your reaction. I mean, the whole emotional roller coast teer of what she w describing. I was listening earlier and hearing hebrew as well. Shes a very interesting person in terms of her story, shes a peace abilitity Virgin Islands a activist and describing the nightmare of being taken and treated decently. And then there i got to tell you, it was remarkable her sort of direct criticism of the Israeli Defense force that will send shockwaves in israel certainly because the idf is looking to invade and israeli people need to have confidence in the idf. So a seething sort of anger about the failure of israel to protect its southern cities. And i think that is also going to the question of ceasefire. Israelis dont want a ceasefire because they dont want the p perpetual threat from hamas and that would lock it in. So emotions are clearly high in israel and getting her out is thank goodness shes out and it just reminds you about how many people are still in captivity. Every life saved is saving a universe to be saved in judaism. So wonderful that she is free. And you are right to point that out. She directly criticized as well the the quote was Lack Of Awareness of shinbat and she said that they warned us, talking about hamas there, three weeks earlier she is claiming that they warned them. In fact i think that we can show everyone what exactly it was she said about this that you were just talking about. Take a look. Translator Lack Of Awareness by shinbat and idf was just a lot. They warned us three weeks beforehand that the fields, they sent Fire Balloons and the idf did not treat it seriously. Joel, do you have a sense of what she means about these Fire Balloons and that the idf did not take it seriously . You know, kasie, the specifics of that im not exactly sure because we obviously werent there. But clearly the people in the southern border where she lived were very aware of hamas activity under way and were concerned. And, you know, there is a covenant between the people of israel and their defense forces. The covenant is that we serve, we are all conscripted, all israelis are conscripted after age 18 unless exempted for religious leaders. And the tradeoff is that we get the leadership. And shes implying that nobody listened, nobody paid attention at the southern border and they were left alone to defend for themselves and the nightmare that unfolded. Doesnt undermine the argument that the Israeli Defense force needs to take action, but it does point to a seething anger and frustration inside the israeli public right now that they are in this position and that they were left defenseless in many instances. This is not unique to her. This is a Discussion Point across the board in israel. And it is something that is going to continue to dog the government of israel regardless of where things head in the Military Operation. And you mentioned her background as a peace activist. And one of the other things that i was talking with a gentleman with the fbi about what is going on from hamas perspective in terms of choosing to release her. Because in addition to saying these things and criticizing the idf, she also spoke about the fair treatment she received at the hands of doctors, medics a and others once inside gaza, the message seeming to be they are treating the hose dtages well. Obviously that is in hamas interests in one to send and she did give them. What is your view of the strategy behind that . Very complex and very politically savvy. Hamas is dripping out the release of individuals, release of two americans over the weekend. Certainly made news here in the United States. It will make news in israel these being israeli civilians. And it is buying time if you are hamas, they are buying times they are trying to figure out ways to prevent further onslaught, using these Human Shields intentionally. There is a reason why they stole a couple hundred civilians is to make trades, make deals, fortify themselves. But it does still bring in the human dimension. And it does have an impact on the psychology of israeli body politics, certainly the discussion that were having now, it will impact the discussion today here. And it just put as human face on the tragedy of this entire situation. The human face of israeli civilians getting murdered, of Palestinian Civilians getting killed in harms way of a Terrorist Organization cruelly committing acts against israelis and its own people to accelerate this and provoke this kind of military c i dont think that it changes the overall strategic picture, but it brings peoples hearts in even deeper. Yeah, watching her, frail as she was, and she is 85 years old. To listen to her talk about the ordeal that she went through as her daughter translated. I mean, just a stunning, stunning image. Joel rubin, thank you very much for your time this morning. We have had a very emotional morning here as one of the hostages just released by hamas was speaking out just a short time ago telling the world that she went through hell. You will hear more from her ahead on cnn this morning. Dont go anywhere. The power goes out and we still have wifi to do our homework. And thats a good thing . Great in my book who are you . No power . No problem. Introducing stormready wifi. Now you can stay reliably connected through Power Outages with unlimited cellular data and up to 4 hours of battery backup to keep you online. Only from xfinity. Home of the xfinity 10g network. Were glad youre with us. Im poppy harlow with Phil Mattingly in new york. Erin burnett is live in tel aviv. Moments ago we just heard from one of the two hostages just released yesterday by hamas